


Pulse Point

by LadyMidnightMoon



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood Kink, Demon Sex, Demons, Dream Demon, Fluff and Smut, Gay Sex, Growth, Half-Vampires, Incubus sex, Kinky, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Office, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Pillow Talk, Self-Indulgent, Shapeshifting, Succubi & Incubi, Switching, Teacher-Student Relationship, The Author Regrets Nothing, Vampire Bites, Vampire Sex, Vampires, because Mara is not an actual student, but not really, incubus, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 13:43:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21055373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMidnightMoon/pseuds/LadyMidnightMoon
Summary: What would you do if your roommate got turned into a vampire? Worse even, what if your ex-lecturer turns out to be a bloodsucker as well and now you're stuck in between your ordinary day-to-day life and what lurks in the dark?CW: Vampires, Blood, various kinks, explicit sex(Formerly named "Pulse")





	1. White Noise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watching movies with your roommate can sometimes be really fun. And flirting with them can be even more fun as long as there are no bad jokes.

On that weekend, Mara’s roommate Aiden stumbled into her flat, bruised and bloody. But if she had known then that he’d be sitting on her couch, telling her all of what happened that night, she might have driven him to the hospital immediately. But he refused to, begging her to not call an ambulance.

At that time, Mara thought that he maybe was just afraid to go to the doctor’s and there didn’t seem to be any other damage than the obvious, which was easily patched up with the remnants of her old first aid kit, so she left it at that.

In the coming days however, she noticed some changes to her best friend.

“Hey, Aiden?”, Mara asked through the door to his room after she had knocked twice.

“Yeah? Come in.”

Mara pushed the handle down and peeked inside the room. “I just made dinner, care for a bite?”

“Sure”, he said, sliding off his bed, placing the laptop on his lap away beforehand. “Any reason why you decided to call me to dinner, mom?”

Mara rolled her eyes, when she poured herself a cup of tea. “You’ve been spending the past four days in your room, barely leaving it. I wanted to check if you’re still alive so you can pay your rent next week.”

“Oh, is that so?”, Aiden snorted, granting himself a rather large scoop of Spaghetti Carbonara from the pan. “Just for the rent? I thought I was your friend!”

“Then would my dearest friend kindly leave me something to eat?”, she said, eyeing the disproportionate amount of food to plate.

“Just a second”, Aiden chuckled, trying to get some of the sauce off his fork, before moving to the table to make space for his roommate.

“Isn’t that a bit much?”, Mara asked, finally sitting down as well.

“Just really hungry”, Aiden said, mouth full. “Haven’t eaten anything since last night.”

“I know”, Mara sighed into her cup, “I heard you get into the kitchen for some snacks.”

“Did I wake you?”

“No, but Season 2 of Game of Thrones did.”

“Oh shit! Mara I’m-“

“Don’t be sorry, I slept through it. College must be really hitting hard.”

“Yeah, it’s been hard to catch up since … you know.”

“Can imagine”, Mara said, grabbing her first bite. “Are you really sure that you don’t want to see a doctor about that?”

“No, I’m fine

"If there's anything, please just tell me. I'll ring Phil up to get his car."

"No need. I'd rather have you call an ambulance", Aiden laughed.

"Excuse me?", Mara said, dramatically sticking her fork into the pasta, "Are you saying that I can't drive?"

"I had you drive me _one time_ to college and that was certainly an experience."

Mara let out a huff through her nose and continued eating her dinner. She remembered that time. They were on their way directly from a birthday party because they stayed the night and Mara was the only one who didn't drink anything. Nothing particularly bad happened that night, no accidents, but she did get a ticket for speeding.

"You have to work tonight?", Aiden asked, while putting his plate in the dishwasher.

"No, it's my day off", Mara said taking a sip from her mug, "I'll be off to the office tomorrow, though. I'll probably be home at 9."

"Cool, okay."

"Any reason why you asked?"

"No", Aiden said, shifting from one leg to another, "I mean, we could hang out, if you're free."

"Why not", Mara shrugged, "There's this movie that came out last week..."

"Oh, you mean_ 'Darkness Haunting'_ or whatever it's called?"

"Yup", Mara nodded, "I'm usually not one for going to the cinema, but since you asked about hanging out."

"Sure, yeah, sounds good", Aiden nodded. "I'm gonna check when and where it airs tonight."

~

"What a mess", Aiden sighed after they left the cinema, on their way to the subway station.

"How is it possible that they still make movies that look so good in the trailers and are so awful to watch?"

"Duh, because the trailer _is_ all the good stuff!"

Mara let out an annoyed sigh, while they were decending down the staircase. "I think I should start reading reviews before I watch the movies."

"Maybe you should", Aiden laughed and they entered the arriving train. "Not that I mind watching an awful movie with you."

"Haha, are you flirting?", Mara laughed back when they positioned themselves at the pole in the middle of the wagon when it started moving.

"With my _roommate_? I could never!"

Mara let go of the pole to hit him jokingly on the arm only to be then caught by the train abruptly stopping and crashing into him.

"Careful!", he said, all amusement gone from his voice.

"Wha! Sorry!", she apologized to nobody in particular trying to not get caught in the stream of people moving.

Mara caught herself blushing, when she was pressed closer to Aiden due to the amount of people entering the wagon. Even with all the other people around them, Mara was able to smell Aiden's perfume on him and found herself leaning into him slightly.

She never thought about getting into a relationship with her roommate, but she'd also be lying if she said that the occasional flirt wasn't fun. And now, being stuck so close together stirred something inside of her. Mara would never admit it, but since her last relationship ended before she started College, she'd needed a little comfort. But getting it from Aiden felt wrong, worse than friendzoning him officially and bringing up the topic of "friends with benefits" felt awkward.

"You okay?", Aiden asked after they exited the train at their station, "You're looking a little red."

"Yeah, I'm fine", Mara said, fruitlessly trying to hide her bright blush behind the sleeve of her jacket. "It was just very warm with all the people in there."

"Well, guess what, there's only us two at the flat."

Mara chuckled, unsure about the direction this was taking.

She didn't mind.

Her breath hitched slightly, when she felt Aiden's hand on her waist when she was looking for the keys in her bag. She was glad that the lights above the entrance have been broken for a couple months, otherwise Aiden might've been able to see her blush get a couple shades deeper.

"Aiden...", she started when they entered their flat shortly after and he ran his hand under her short jacket and her shirt.

"Hm?", he hummed, pulling her a little closer.

"We shouldn't-"

"Shhh", he hushed her and slid her jacket and bag off of her shoulders and leaned in to her, his nose just millimeters from hers. His eyes were downcast to her lips and she got a great view of his dark lashes.

Mara gripped at his hoodie when he kissed her, unsure whether she wanted to push him away or not. His lips were rough, but not chapped and she instinctively clenched her fingers tighter into the fabric of Aiden's sleeves when he nipped at her lower lip.

"Aiden", she whispered when she got a moment to breathe. "Aiden, wait."

"What is it?", he breathed, hands squeezing Mara's hips a little.

"Let's not do this in the hallway."

Aiden grinned and shoved his shoes off, like Mara and together they stumbled into the living room. Mara caught her leg on the coffee table and nearly fell backwards if Aiden hadn't caught her in time.

"Are you falling for me?", he grinned and she slapped him on the shoulder.

"Very funny", she said, letting him lift her back up again, "Way to kill the mood."

"Sorry", Aiden laughed pecking her on the neck. "Didn't mean to."

"It's late", Mara said, voice suddenly tired. "Sorry, I-"

"It's okay", he said, slowly letting go of her, "It's okay."

"I think I'm gonna take a shower", Mara said, rubbing her arm, "Don't be mad."

"I'm not, don't worry", Aiden reassured her with a soft smile. "I'm probably gonna hit the bed."

"Good night then", Mara said, making her way to the bathroom.

"Good night."

Mara closed the door behind her and got out of her shirt and jeans after she turned the shower on for the water to warm up. The situation felt weird. Weird and awkward. She knew very well that Aiden just wanted to make a light-hearted joke, that he didn't want to kill the mood. She still felt his hands on her body, his lips on hers, on her neck but it was as if a spell was suddenly lifted from her, immediately killing the mood.

She stepped under the shower, letting the hot water run down her back through her hair. She would have to dry it or she'd look awful tomorrow. With an annoyed sigh, she splashed her face with water.

No need to get worked up over this. Aiden said he wasn't mad and it wasn't as if this had consequences on their non-existant relationship. Well, none aside from the awkwardness that will probably last for a few days, if at all.

Mara turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. She tapped herself dry and plugged the hair dryer into one of the two sockets when a small thought hit her. She dismissed it quickly, though, she had not been that long in the shower and hoped that Aiden wasn't already asleep.

Even if she did, that'd make them even, she thought with a small smile, before turning the hair dryer on.

The next morning, Mara was startled awake by the sound of boots stomping through the hallway. A quick glance at her phone confirmed that it was almost ten in the morning. She straighted up in her bed, listening for other sounds and stumbled out of her bed when the sound didn't stop.

"Aiden?", she asked through the door crack.

"Oh, you're already awake?", he asked, his head peeking around the corner.

"Yeah, I thought somebody broke in", she yawned. "Where are you going?"

"I already came back", he said, grabbing something from the floor. "I went grocery shopping."

"Huh, why?", Mara said, grabbing her gown from a chair, to not run around in her nightgown only, and exited her room. "I went shopping on Tuesday."

"Ah, uh...", Aiden mumbled after he brought the plastic bag into the kitchen and Mara had followed him. "I just bought some thing that were missing."

"Oh, damn, did I forget the soy milk again?", Mara panicked, opening the fridge to check.

"No! No, I just felt like stocking up on some things. Y'know I've been craving that roasted duck."

"Ah, the one from Panda Sun?"

"Yep. But they open at noon and I didn't wanna wait."

Mara snorted and helped him put everything away.

"How much is left?", she asked about the remaining grocery money.

"About 60 dollars", he said, looking inside the wallet. "Should be enough for next week."

"Okay ... wait. Did you buy _liver?"_

"I did."

"Why?", Mara asked, sounding almost amused, "I've never seen you eat it and I certainly don't."

"I found this recipe online...", Aiden said, taking the plastic bag out of Mara's hands and put the fresh meat away himself. "I didn't expect you to eat it."

"Okay, okay. Just don't make a mess, alright?"

"I won't, I promise", Aiden chuckled, closing the fridge.

"Good. You're off to college I assume?", she said, judging Aiden by the jacket he still was wearing.

"Yeah, classes start in about an hour."

"There's leftovers in the fridge", Mara said with a nod. "Like I said, I'll be back at around nine, maybe ten, depending whether or not Phil's with his car tonight."

"Ah, about that", Aiden said, in the hallway, shoes in his hands, "Don't wait for me. There's a dorm party tonight and I'll probably not be back before one."

"Sure okay, make sure to take your key's with you."

"Yes mom", Aiden laughed when he left the flat with a quick eye roll.

The next morning, Mara was standing in the kitchen, making herself a cup of coffee when she heard something coming from Aiden's room.

When she came back from work yesterday, Aiden was already gone and she didn't hear him return.

And now, she was standing there, in her kitchen, completely petrified because there was a _woman's giggle_ coming from his room.

Mara chuckled and stirred the brown liquid with a spoon. It's been quite a while since Mara caught Aiden with someone; both of them were usually too busy with school or work to look for a partner and most of their social contact was the other roommate, which inevitably lead to their kind of relationship.

She was tempted to make some kind of ruckus in the kitchen to announce herself to the lovebirds across the flat but decided to not do that and sat down on a chair to drink her coffee. She was glad that she slept in a pajama tonight, she could imagine only a few things that were more embarrassing that being caught by a strange woman in only a nightgown at nine in the morning.

Mara heard a door open and two pairs of feet plodding across the hallway. One of them was heading to the bathroom and the other straight to the kitchen.

"Morning", Mara greeted Aiden, who entered the room with a big yawn.

"You're already up?"

"Yeah", she said, taking another sip, unsure about how to continue this conversation without making it uncomfortable for both of them.

"Hey, Aiden", another voice saved Mara from the upcoming embarrassing silence, "Do you-"

The woman cut herself off, when she noticed that Mara was also present.

"Morning!", Mara said with a small grin, "Would you like some coffee?"

"Uh ... y-yeah ... thank you", she said, clearly surprised and confused about Mara's supposed openness. In reality, Mara just didn't want to make this awkward for all of them.


	2. Plenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What would you do if your Roommate suddenly started acting weird after a failed make-out session and a one-night-stand?

On Monday, Mara worked a late shift again, returning home at around ten and found the flat being completely dark. Assuming that Aiden had maybe already gone to sleep, she tried to be as quiet as possible when getting out of her jacket and boots.

When she passed the bathroom, she saw light coming from the inside through the crack below the door and heard labored breathing coming from inside.

"Aiden?", she softly called out for him, before knocking on the door, "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah...", he answered back but his voice came out slightly pained.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, door's unlocked."

Carefully, Mara pushed the handle down and entered the bathroom. Inside, once she got a look at Aiden, she cried out loud: "Shit, Aiden! What happened?"

She was in shock when she saw the blood in the sink and around his lower face. Her roommate was hunched above the sink, pressing his fingers on the bridge of his nose, trying to stop the flow.

"Nothing", he said and Mara saw how his other hand, which was firmly pressed to his left to give him support, shook. "Just got a bad nosebleed."

"This looks like a damn crime scene!", Mara said, leaving her bad just outside the room, "Did you get blood anywhere else?"

"No, I don't think so. I mean, except my shirt."

"Good", Mara said, grabbing a rag to clean a little around the sink, "Blood's a bitch to get out of fabric."

"You would know, huh?", Aiden joked and Mara would've given him a good nudge between the ribs if she didn't risk blood getting onto the small carpet underneath his feet by doing so.

"Just make sure to clean the sink once it stops", Mara said, leaving the wetted rag next to him, realizing that her slight cleaning was for naught. "And if you feel sick or anything, feel free to wake me up, okay?"

"Okay", Aiden huffed, "Good night."

Mara would never admit it, but she was very worried for Aiden even if it only was a nosebleed. And that wouldn't change throughout the rest of the week. On Tueday, she caught him eating an entire box of donuts and two pizzas throughout the entire day. On Wednesday, Mara caught Aiden pull an all-nighter for Uni. On Thursday he seemed extremely irritated and only left his room once to get a bottle of water from the kitchen and on Friday he spent the entire night vomiting his guts up. The morning after that, when Aiden decided to make savory pancakes with the liver he'd bought, making the entire flat smell disgusting for a couple of hours, was the time where Mara's patience snapped.

"We need to talk", she said, after her roommate cleaned the mess he'd left after making lunch for himself and hated how angry she sounded. She wasn't, she was just very fed up with his shenanigans. Something was wrong and he refused to talk to her about it.

"What is it?", he asked, hands submerged in soapy water.

"Have you caught a bug or something? Maybe food poisoning?", she said, unsure about how to approach the topic. "I feel like I've been nothing but worried about you for the past two weeks."

"Nothing to worry about. I'm fine."

"You're clearly _not_ fine", Mara said, getting a little agitated, "Otherwise you wouldn't have puked for three hours straight."

"It's not food poisoning."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know! Okay? I. Don't. Know", Aiden snapped, glaring at Mara. "And no, I don't want to go to a hospital."

"Why not?", Mara snapped back.

"Because I'm an adult and I know when I need to go!"

"Are you sure about that?", Mara hissed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Because you're sure as hell acting childish about this!"

"And you're not?!"

"Aiden!", Mara shouted and immediately felt bad after she saw how he suddenly flinched at her raising her voice. "I'm just worried about you, okay? I don't want you suddenly collapsing."

Aiden let out a grunt after drying his hands. "Anyway", he said, jaw tense, "I'm gonna be out for a couple hours."

"Hey, are you even listening?", Mara said, running after him, "Hey!"

But before she could stop him, he was already gone through the door.

Mara cursed under he breath and fought the instinct to kick the door. She knew she had been too rough with him but he just failed to understand that she was worried about him. She was angry and very *very* close to just throwing him into a cab and getting him to the hospital but even then, she highly doubted that she'd be able to do that.

So she decided to wait.

But Aiden didn't come home that night and throughout the following week, Mara thought she was going insane. If she wasn't 100% sure that she had a roommate and didn't see the shoes at the door, she would've thought that she lived alone. She didn't see him for the entire week, she didn't hear a noise coming from his room and he left no dirty dishes behind that would suggest that he even left his room.

The only vital sign she had from her roommate was a heated argument over the telephone that she caught. And that was when a realization crept in.

She didn't catch much from the phone call, just snippets of "It's your fault! ... I didn't know! and You didn't tell me it would be like that!" but she came to think of the_ incident_ a few nights ago.

Maybe it wasn't a regular fight he got in, like he told her. Maybe he broke up with someone. Mara spun the thought a little further, maybe that was why he was so hesitant to tell her about that. She has absolutely no idea that he even had been in a relationship, so it probably was awkward for him to talk about that.

That still was no excuse for the way he acted towards her, but she could at least understand his behavior if that was the case.

The only other indicator that Aiden continued to indeed exist in their shared flat, was a small red stain on their hand towels in the bathroom. Mara knew what a bloodstain looked like when she saw one, so she took the towel into her hands and knocked on Aiden's door, finally gathering up the courage to do so.

"Aiden, hey...", she started waiting for a response but receiving none, "there's some blood on our towels..."

"Get lost", he hissed through the door.

"Aiden..."

"Leave me alone!"

Mara sighed and threw the towel into their laundry bin. This was going to be a bitch to get out.

With a grunt Mara threw herself back on her bed. It was a beautiful Saturday night and she was laying here, having a fight with her roommate over a dirty towel. She took her laptop out of her bag and picked out a movie to distract herself.

She was startled out of her laugh by the entrance door suddenly shutting. Aiden had left.

_Shit_, she cursed herself. That was her chance to talk to him and she outright missed it. But she also saw no point in waiting for him, so she went to bed after finishing a few episodes of her favourite show.

The next morning she was once again woken up by Aiden, this time by a scream. Mara was immediately up on her feet and rushed towards his door, ripping it open without knocking first.

And oh, how she wished she had knocked.

Aiden was sprawled out on his bed, back arched and head pressed deep into his pillow. And most importantly, he was naked. Naked underneath another naked blond man, who had his face buried into the crook of his neck.

When the door crashed into the wall from the force it was opened with, the other man lifted his head and looked at her. His eyes wide in shock and red dribbled down his chin.

"Oh fuck!", was all that Mara could think of when she ran back out into her room across the wall, smashing her door closed and pretending that she didn't see what she just saw.

About thirty minutes later, she was in her kitchen, both men dressed and sitting awkwardly at her table while she remained standing as far away from them as the small room allowed.

"Let me get this straight", she said, brows knitted, arms crossed, trying to comprehend what she had been told. "You just picked up my roommate to fuck at a club?"

"Yes", the blond confirmed with a nod.

"That's not what I saw."

"I mean, we _did_ have sex."

"We did", Aiden confirmed with a nod."

"That doesn't explain the ..." _Blood._ Mara wanted to say, gesturing at her face, feeling sick at just the thought of it.

"I-I don't know what you mean", Aiden stuttered.

"I saw what I saw. You two are not making the impression that it's just some kinky shit."

"No, that's not-"

"Listen", Mara interrupted Aiden, "if you're into that vampire stuff, that's fine by me."

_But that doesn't help the fact that I just saw my teacher's dick,_ she added internally.

"I mean", Aiden laughed nervously, "that's not far from-"

"I wish that you would've just talked to me", she talked over him in frustration and was in turn interrupted by the blond.

"If you would let him finish one sentence, then he would be able to explain himself."

"Sorry, it's just", Mara struggled to find the right words. "It's a little much to take in; my roommate has been avoiding me for _days_ and then I catch him sleeping with my lecturer."

"Ha, wait", the blond said narrowing his eyes at her, "You're Mara Davis, right? Second year Journalism?"

"Yeah, um... I ... dropped out last year, actually", Mara confessed. "But yeah, that's me."

"Ah, I see."

"Anyways!", Mara brought all of them back to the topic, "I'd very much appreciate an explanation. And I'd like one that _does not_ involve vampires."

"Vampires?", the lecturer asked, gaze switching from Mara to Aiden and back.

"When all of this ... _mess_ started, Aiden tried to tell me that he had been attacked by a vampire", Mara explained, cringing at the memory.

"Well, that changes some things."

"Huh?", Mara looked at the blond with big eyes, "What do you mean?"

"First of all", he began, ignoring Mara, "Who do you think you are, telling people that you've been attacked by a _vampire_ of all things?"

"What was I supposed to do? I came home bloody and bruised!"

"Have you seen a doctor?"

"No! Fuck no!"

"Good", the blond sighed and then hissed under his breath, "Shit, just my luck."

"Hey! Hello? Don't just ignore me!", Mara chimed in, a chill running down her spine "What's going on here?"

"This is a very unfortunate situation for all three of us", he said, running a hand nervously through his hair, "I've been compromised, your friend over here is a walking chatterbox, talking abut things he's not supposed to and you're caught up right in the middle of this."

"Are you trying to tell me the vampire thing wasn't a lie?", Mara asked, voice getting higher.

The blond let out a pressed sigh. "It's more complicated than that."

"Aiden, if this is a joke trying to make up with me, then it's not working", Mara hissed.

"I'm afraid this is not a joke on Aiden's part, Mara."

"What?!"

"Where do I even begin explaining this without getting myself or one of you two in trouble?", the teacher struggled to find a solution, so he just continued, "Aiden was indeed attacked by a vampire and the reason why he has probably been acting a little unusually, is that he's turning."

"He's what?"

"I'm what?!", Aiden and Mara screamed simultaneously.

"Wait", Mara said in horror, "But you ... the blood ..."

"Yes."

"I-", Mara supported her body with an arm on the kitchen counter, "No way."

"It's true", the teacher assured her.

"I think ... I think I need to sit down", Mara said, and was lead to the chair by the blond who had left it.

"But if you're both vampires, then how ... why did you drink from him?"

"Aiden is turning. He is not a full vampire yet, so he technically is pretty much human at the moment. As for why, well ...", the teacher had an apologetic look on his face that did nothing to soften the words he spoke after that, "rumors were spreading about a newly turned vampire without a maker and those have a high bounty on their heads."

"You planned on _killing_ me?", Aiden screamed in shock, "But why did you ... why did we ...?"

"I honestly was just trying to get something out of this for myself."

"Who would've thought that you're such a scumbag?", Mara said grimly.

"You're awfully cold concerning this."

"Oh believe me, I'm currently debating if I should call the police on you but I'm not sure if they'd believe me if I told them that my ex-lecturer tried to kill my roommate after they fucked because of some vampire politics."

"I could see why they wouldn't believe you if you worded it like this..."

"Julien!", Aiden said, "Mara's serious!"

"And I'm not? I'm already breaking every rule by telling you all of this!"

"And what would you suggest doing?"


	3. Venom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who would've thought that keeping an eye on a vampire would be so much work?

"So all we have to do is to make sure that nobody finds out that Aiden is turning?"

"That's easier said than done, Mara", her ex-lectured assured her. "While the transformation isn't over there's a specific scent to him that's _very_ easily distinguished; hence why I found him in the first place. Plus, because you're in the currently unlucky situation of being roommates, this scent can be tracked through _you_."

"Excuse me, what? But how-"

"I'm not finished yet. A turning vampire is not easy to handle, especially in the last night. I'll leave you my number in case something happens; do not hesitate to call me immediately once it starts. And this must stay between us, alright?"

"Okay and what should we look out for?", Aiden asked.

"Any bodily changes, anything that makes you feel unwell."

"So basically the past two weeks?"

The blond looked at Mara in confusion. "The past two weeks?"

"He's been irritated, he ate a lot and I mean he ate liver for Christ's sake and that's disgusting", Mara rambled, "he even had a one-night-stand with a random girl and he never leaves for parties in the first place, no offense."

"No offense taken", Aiden said, waiting for a response from the lecturer who had looked like he'd been deeply in thought since Mara started explaining.

"That's not good", he finally said, "In fact, that's very bad. All of what you've told me means that he has almost completely turned."

"And what does that mean for us, aside from the obvious?"

"Stay alert, the final night might be coming in the next few days."

And Julien wasn't wrong. Just one day after their talk Aiden called the teacher at around six. He spent the entire day in his bed, looking like he was fighting off a cold with a lot of shaking and sweating. Mara wasn't sure how to tend to him, so she just prepared some cold wraps to ease the fever he was developing.

"How do you feel?", she asked him after she had wrung out the small towel and swapped it for one with cooler water.

"Sick. Tired", Aiden groaned. "Everything hurts."

"I wish I could do anything."

"Julien will be here any minute, don't worry."

"Aiden, I've been worrying about you for the past two weeks."

"Then another day will not make a difference."

Mara let out a frustrated huff and wanted to reply, but was interrupted by the door bell ringing instead.

"You're lucky that Julien is on time", she spat jokingly and went to the door to let the lecturer in.

"Is he okay?", the blond asked, "Any signs?"

"If I didn't know better, I would've assumed that he caught the flu."

"Okay, good", Julien mumbled and was lead to Aiden's room by Mara and sat down next to Aiden on the bed.

"How are we feeling?", he asked him as well.

"Awful", Aiden said, looking very pale to the face. "I feel like my body is being turned inside out."

"If it makes it easier for you, I'll let you know that that it in fact normal and a sign that it's almost over."

"Is there anything I can do to help?", Mara asked, nervously gripping her wrist and fumbling with the hem of her sleeve.

"Yes. Yes you can."

"Great! What is it?"

"You can leave", Julien said, keeping his eyes on Aiden.

"Excuse me?", Mara thought she didn't hear him correctly. "What do you mean 'leave'? This is my flat as well."

"Mara", Julien said, lifting his gaze and looking at her with stern eyes. "In a couple of hours you will be having two vampires in your flat, one of them hasn't fed recently and the other will have no control over his body yet. I think leaving would be the smartest option."

"Still I- Wait, did you say you didn't feed recently?"

"I didn't", Julien sighed, "if you wouldn't have called me, I'd be on my way right now."

That of coursed changed things, Mara thought.

"Can I at least stay in the flat?", she asked. "Or is that a bad idea?"

"It is, but I feel like we're not going to get you out of here, is that right?"

"That's right."

"Alright, but-"

"Hey, guys", Aiden said, voice strained with pain, "I think I'm gonna throw up."

Without another word, Mara rushed out of the room and came back shortly after with a small bucket in her hand. Just in time before Aiden relieved himself of his stomach's content. The thing that was worrying Mara (and that made her leave the room immediately) was that there clearly was blood in the mix.

Aiden mentioned that he felt like he was turned inside out but she didn't expect it to be that close to the truth. She fled to the living room, the room furthest from Aiden's. She decided to stay but that didn't mean that she wanted to hear Aiden throw up for the next two hours.

"Is ... is that blood?", Aiden asked when he felt less sick to his stomach.

"Yes", Julien said, wiping at Aiden's sweaty forehead with a cool towel. "Your body will discard of everything that it doesn't need after the transformation."

"Am I puking out my organs?"

"Not all of them."

"Fuck", Aiden huffed and let himself back into the pillows. "I hope we aren't causing you too many problems."

"Oh, rest assured, you two are causing me all possible problems", Julien said with a half-laugh, "Do you remember who bit you?"

"N-no", Aiden said, covering his eyes with the back of his hand, "There were too many of them."

"What? What did you think you were doing?"

"I was at this party in the Moonlight..."

"Oh great, our unturned chose the most popular vampire club in town", Julien sighed and Aiden swore he could hear the lecturer roll his eyes.

"I was aware of that. Of the ... vampires", Aiden confessed, "I knew what I was going into. I just didn't expect that someone would try to turn me."

"Who told you about that?"

"Nobody! I found out by myself. And people recognized me quickly there."

"Probably because you're the only human in the room."

Aiden cringed. "Probably because I was a regular."

"Let me guess", Julien groaned, "You became a regular because you were willing and the vampires enjoyed drinking from you. And one night you just caught the wrong people and a few things went wrong."

"Sounds about right."

"This is going to be more complicated than I thought", Julien said, stroking Aiden's back after he went back to reeling into the bucket.

Mara in the meanwhile made herself a cup of chamomile tea and watched a few videos on her phone to pass the time. She could hear the two men talking but it was hard to understand what exactly they were saying, plus, she wasn't the type who was into eavesdropping.

She startled slightly when she heard Julien call for her.

"Would you kindly bring me a towel that you wouldn't mind get dirty?", he asked of her once she was standing in the door frame.

Aiden was laying still on the bed, eyes closed, a fine sheen of sweat covering his face and arms when she came back.

"This is your last chance to leave", Julien said folding the towel neatly in his hands. "The worst part will start any minute."

"I'd rather stay", Mara said once again.

"The suit yourself", Julien said with a nod before she left.

And she slightly regretted not leaving because after a few minutes Aiden started screaming in pain. The clock ticking above the door in the kitchen said that it only lasted a couple of minutes, but Mara was sure that it lasted hours, days.

Aiden felt like his body was burning from the inside out. His skin felt like a billion of fire ants were squirming underneath, peeling it slowly from his body. He couldn't breathe. He lost control over his body that was spasming as his body went through the transformation. He only barely registered the fact that he was screaming his throat raw, that there was another person right beside him in the room. And then, suddenly, it stopped. Everything stopped.

"Aiden", a voice reached him and he lazily opened his eyes (when did he close his eyes?). He couldn't move his head.

"Aiden, are you with us?", the voice asked again. He wanted to reach towards it, hear it again but his tongue and arms felt heavy like lead.

"Aiden can you speak?"

He opened his mouth, a strangled sound leaving it. He felt hands on his face pulling his eyes open move lower towards his lips, pulling the upper lips slightly aside.

"Aiden", the voice repeated again.

"Yeah", he finally managed to get out, "I'm with you."

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Heavy."

"Anything else?"

"Thirsty", he said, his lips cracking when he spoke. He licked them and tasted something coppery, something stale, something _good_.

"Here", Julien said softly, holding a cup to his lips and he carefully took a sip of the contents. The texture felt weird. Slick and goopy, sightly thick. But it felt good when it ran down his throat, making his vision swim and his head spin.

"Is it good?"

"Yeah", Aiden huffed after the cup was empty and Julien removed it from his lips. His body wanted more of it, it _ached_ for more.

Then he heard it. A small sound, but it was there. A heartbeat.

"Oh no, young man, we're not going anywhere", Julien said strictly, when Aiden tried to get out of his bed.

"I hear it", he said, trying to wiggle out of Julien's grip. "Julien, I need it. Please!"

"No!", Julien said and managed to press the younger one back onto the bed. "You have no control over yourself, I can't let you do that."

"I am fully in control", Aiden hissed, "Let me have it!"

"You're speaking nonsense. Calm down."

"I am calm", Aiden said, panting. He felt his body begin to spasm again but managed to keep it as still as possible.

"There we go", Julien said after Aiden had visibly calmed himself down. "Are we okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay", Aiden breathed, suddenly feeling tired again.

"I am going to leave you for a second, alright? If anything's wrong, call for me."

"Okay."

Julien got up to his feet and neatly closed the door after him.

"Is it over?", Mara asked sheepishly once he appeared in the kitchen.

"Yes. He still has trouble getting used to the new sensations, but I think he will be alright."

"Thank god", Mara sighed, feeling a weight drop from her shoulders.

"I would like to stay the night to keep an eye on him", Julien said, looking at his watch, "I feel rather uncomfortable leaving you alone with a newly turned vampire."

"That's ... that's okay with me", she gulped still unsure how to handle the realization that this was in fact really happening. "And you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", he said dismissively. He was tired, though, and would've appreciated some blood himself after he had given some of his to Aiden.

It didn't help that Mara was right here, right in front of him, her heartbeat trying to lure him in.

"Julien?", Mara's voice ripped him out of his trance.

"Sorry, just spacing out", he apologized, cursing himself that he got distracted this easily.

"Okay, then I'll vacate my bed", Mara said and stood up with a sigh.

"I'm fine with the couch", Julien assured her but she insisted that her bed was much more comfortable and closer to Aiden's room.

Mara took out a second pillow and a think fleece blanket out of her closet, leaving Julien her regular comforter and pillow and made herself as comfortable as possible on the small couch.

It wasn't that bad, in fact, Mara had spent countless nights on different couches throughout her lifetime but it still wasn't the same as her bed, of course. The only negative thing about this sleeping situation was that she was able to hear everything that happened outside, as the living room's window was facing directly towards the main street, leading to her having a light and not really restful sleep that night.

That was also why she was awoken by Aiden's door opening. Mara went back to sleep but started into the darkness of the room in confusion when her roommate passed the bathroom and kitchen and came to a halt right in the door frame.

"Aiden?", she carefully asked, her voice still tired with sleep, "Is everything okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the cliffhanger!


	4. Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mara absolutely doesn't like the idea of vampires, especially not two of them in her flat.

Within seconds, Aiden was on her, pressing her down into the sofa with his bodyweight.

"Aiden! Stop!", she screamed when she felt his nose nuzzle the crook of her neck and felt the slightest hint of lips on her skin.

Suddenly, the lights went on, blinding both of them for a moment and the weight was lifted from her.

"Just what do you think you're doing?", Julien shouted, pulling Aiden away from Mara by carrying him under his arms.

"Let me go!", Aiden thrashed around, trying to hurt the man behind him.

"Only if you calm down this instant!", and to his surprise, Aiden did.

"Okay, careful", Julien said and sat down on the arm chair behind him, still holding Aiden, making the other sit down in his lap.

Aiden supported himself on Julien's shoulders, trying to push himself away, trying to get up but when Julien ran a fingernail down the side of his neck, drawing blood, Aiden's arms went limp and his gaze became fixated on the small droplet that made it's way down and down and down to Julien's pale collarbone.

"Shhh... it's okay", Julien whispered, stroking his hand up to the back of Aiden's head, pressing him closer to his neck. "Drink."

Aiden latched onto the bleeding spot immediately and Julien let out a small sound of discomfort as Aiden started sucking at the wound. Aiden's breaths came out laboured through his nose, as if his life depended on the blood of the other vampire. He clawed his hands tighter into the Julien's shirt and Julien, in response, gripped the strands of his hair a little tighter, whimpering when Aiden became more desperate to get blood on his tongue when the wound started healing.

Once Aiden had taken his fill, he lazily slumped against Julien's body. Julien, coming out of his haze, saw Mara cowering on the couch, wrapped in her blanket, eyes wide, body shaking. With a groan, he pushed Aiden off of him and carefully placed him on the arm chair before getting up.

"Mara-", he began, walking and reaching out towards the woman inside the lump.

"No!", she screamed, "Do not touch me!"

Julien halted and knelt down next to the couch. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?", he asked her, carefully.

She just nodded, still shaking and her eyes flickering from Julien to Aiden and back.

"It's okay", Julien assured her, "Don't worry."

But she just continued watching him with weary eyes, like a deer staring into the headlights of a car.

"You are scared", Julien stated the obvious out loud and wished that they'd been in any other situation now.

He could only guess what he looked like, skin pale with blood crusting on his neck, eyes probably already blown from the hunger and crouching in front of someone who is scared for their life after being almost attacked by a newborn vampire. His body couldn't do anything but react to Mara's fluttering heartbeat, the adrenaline in her veins singing to him. Oh, how good it would've been to sink his teeth into her skin and to just drink, _drink_, _**drink**_. Gorge himself on the sweet, red nectar of life.

No, he thought, that would make everything just worse. She's already scared as is and preying on her right now would just be wrong.

"It's okay", Julien repeated, trying to calm Mara down a little. "Can I check your shoulder?"

Mara hesitated, clenched and unclenched her jaw but decided to finally accept.

"Can I move the blanket?", Julien asked, waiting for Mara to nod again, only then he carefully slid it off her shoulder to examine her neck.

"I have to move your hair aside, alright?"

Mara nodded again and flinched, closing her eyes instinctively, when Julien reached his hand out towards her.

"I am not going to hurt you", Julien said, more to himself, to etch it like a mantra into his mind. He hesitantly swept the strands behind her ear to see and was relieved at the fact that there was nothing visible. Her skin felt so warm under his cold fingers, and he was almost able to catch a little of the fluttering heartbeat under the skin.

"There we go", he said, slowly moving away from her, "Not even a scratch."

Even though she didn't say anything, Julien could see clearly, how she became less tense when he picked up the dozing Aiden and carried him back into his bedroom. When he returned, he sat down on the arm chair again and asked: "Do you think you could sleep a little?"

"N-no ...", Mara said but it wasn't a secret how tired and exhausted from the sudden shock she was.

"Would it help if I stayed with you?", he asked, seeing how Mara tensed up again.

"I ..."

"If you feel uncomfortable with that then I won't."

Mara whimpered, pulling the blanket tighter around herself. "That's not it."

"I can understand if you're scared of me now. Scared of us."

"Is this going to happen every night now?", Mara asked, having finally found her voice again.

"No. No, it's just the first few. After that he should be able to control himself."

Mara lowered her gaze, staring at the floor for a while. "And you?"

"I've been a vampire for way longer. This is nothing."

"But Aiden ..._ drank_ from you. Don't you need to compensate the loss?"

"I do", Julien sighed, "But I'm going to do that tomorrow, so it's alright."

"It ... uhm ...", Mara began, unsure about how to put her thoughts into words, "You looked like it felt good. When Aiden..."

"Oh, _that_", Julien was unsure whether to laugh or not, "It ... it does, actually. Even for vampires. I'm fine."

"Okay...I'm glad."

"I'm leaving", Mara said the next morning, when all of them caught a little sleep.

"For work?", Julien asked in the kitchen, leaning at the kitchen table.

"Work doesn't start until six", Aiden corrected, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to spend the next few nights over at Phil's", Mara explained.

"What, why?", Aiden said, sounding just slightly agitated.

"Because I don't want to risk anything and because I don't want Julien to save like a damsel in distress every night just because you're still green."

"Excuse me? What-"

"She is right", Julien said, interrupted him, "I am not keen on playing your babysitter and feeding you _multiple times_ per day, it is massively exhausting."

"How long?", Aiden asked grimly.

"Until Julien says that you have yourself under control", Mara said, nervously rubbing her wrist.

"That will take a while, Mara", Julien said, "But I can completely understand your worries."

"At least for one or two nights", Mara sighed, "I'm already at the end of my wits."

"If you'd like, you could also stay a few nights over at my place", Julien suggested, quickly continuing when Mara and Aiden looked at him in shock, "I'm not home for most of the day, so you'll be there by yourself and I'm confident that Aiden should be fine by the time the weekend rolls around."

"I ... thank you. But I think I'm going to check how long Phil will allow me to stay first. I'll come back to your offer later, okay?"

"Good, very well", Julien said with a nod, "You have my number, feel free to call or write me. I'm going to be off to work soon."

"Are you going to be fine?", Mara asked Aiden.

"Y-yeah... I think so. I've been feeling a lot better now."

"Just be careful. When anything happens, feel free to call me as well", Julien said, getting up from his leaning position.

"Everything okay?", Phil asked Mara later that day, when she heaved her trolley into the back of his car. "Anything happened between you and Aiden?"

"Nothing in particular", she lied, sitting down on the passenger's seat after, "I think we both just need a little air to breathe."

"Hey, I'm always here to help", Phil said, starting the engine of the car.

As expected, Phil couldn't shelter Mara for more than two nights, and that lead to her standing in front of Julien's door. She wasn't sure what she expected, maybe some kind of Victorian Mansion or maybe some kind of modern residence hidden somewhere in the woods, but in the end she found herself standing in front of what looked like a normal flat.

"Hello", she greeted him shyly when he opened the door for her.

"Welcome, come in", he said, stepping aside so that she could enter with her luggage and found herself in awe when she was lead through a spacious loft to a room.

"I have a spare room", Julien explained and opened the door for her, "Please, make yourself comfortable. It's quite late."

"Thank you", Mara said eyeing the room. It was small, just a large bed, well, larger than hers, and a closet with a mirror. "I think I'm going to sleep soon."

"I'm going to be out by seven tomorrow morning. Feel free to use the kitchen as you like. I didn't know what you like to eat, so I bought a couple of things."

"Oh wow, that's so kind of you!"

"Don't mention it, good night."

"Good night."

It took Mara a couple of minutes to find her pajamas in her trolley and she hurried into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before going to bed. It was comfortable but there was something bugging her that night.

A warm shiver spread throughout her body, making her brain fuzzy and light. A small gasp escaped her lips when she felt hands on her upper thighs, stopping at her hips. A light gust of air hit her cleavage, her shoulder. Someone brushed her hair aside and the hands caressed her arms upwards, stopping just below the crook of her neck. In her dream, the room was still dark but she saw a few blond strands before soft rosy lips kissed her.

She woke up with burning cheeks and pressed the heels of her hands onto her eyes to cool her face. What was that just now? Why now, when she was inside _his flat_? He didn't know, he_ wouldn't_ know, but she would have to face him tomorrow and on Friday. Mara rolled onto her side and check the time on her phone. It was ten past six. With a grunt she rolled onto her back again. How embarrassing, how awkward.

She didn't think she could go to sleep again after that, especially not when she could still feel her body tingle where the hands had touched her in the dream. She let out a shaky gasp when she thought back to it. Yes, Julien was handsome. Yes, she found the face he made when Aiden drank from him, kind of intriguing. No, she would not continue to dwell on that line of thought or else she might die from embarrassment when she happened to meet Julien when he came from work and before she left.

Luckily, her shifts and Julien's lectures were aligned in a way that made them miss each other for the two days she stayed over, but when it came to moving back to her actual flat, she still could clearly remember the dream and _she would not mention it._

When they arrived, she was glad to see that Aiden looked a little fresher to his face.

"How are you feeling?", she asked him after they settled down in the living room.

"Alright. Good", he said rubbing the back of his neck. "It's still kinda weird but I think I started getting used to it."

"You don't ... you ... um", she stuttered, unsure about how to ask about his hunger as she was the only human in the room.

"It's ... it's fine? I think?", he said. He didn't mention that he didn't want to tear her throat out anymore.

"Good, then it's time to speak about some things", Julien said, "We need to find the vampire that turned you. And you need to learn how to feed properly."

"I ... what? Haven't I been doing that with you?"

"Feeding from another vampire is - A - not always a possibility and - B - you need to learn how to feed from humans or else we're going to have problems very soon. You're living with Mara, so you need to learn how to not hurt her."

"I'm not going to drink from Mara!", Aiden shouted. "I don't ... I can't-"

"Hold up, wait a second", Mara interrupted, "I never agreed to this, I'm ... I'm not against it but I didn't agree!"

"Listen you two", Julien said, slight agitation in his voice, "I am not responsible for you two being in this situation but we do have to work with it."

"I-"

"No, Aiden. It's better to do this in a save environment than somewhere in a dark alleyway."

Aiden clenched his jaws and looked to the floor.

"I'm here. I can intervene", Julien assured him. "It's not going to be like last time."


	5. New Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mara is happy to get her mind off of vampire business for the moment.

Aiden gulped visibly and continued in a shaky voice: "I ... I don't think I'd be able to stop."

"You've been doing fine."

"Okay, I'll try", he said, not sounding very confident.

"What should I do?", Mara asked, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"Just lay down", Julien said, standing up, "Make yourself as comfortable as possible."

Aiden had already crouched down next to the couch, next to Mara. "Just ... uhm ... let your arm hang down. If it hurts too much, just hit me or something."

Mara nodded and Aiden carefully grabbed her arm on her wrist with one hand and at her elbow with the other. A few seconds passed before Aiden lifted the limb to his lips. The air seemed thick, tense between the two.

"Fuck", he hissed angrily, dropping her arm again. "Can you be any more nervous?"

"How should I not be nervous about this?", Mara asked, suddenly hyper-aware of the heartbeat hammering in her chest.

Aiden brought his hand to his mouth, visibly shaking and Mara shuddered when she saw how he averted his dark eyes from her. They were glossy. She was sure that he was probably just as nervous about this as she was.

"Take a few deep breaths", Julien said to them both, encouragingly patting Mara's leg, "It's okay."

"Nothing is okay, stop saying that", she spat, but still forced herself to breathe a little deeper, a little slower.

"Please stop me, alright?", Aiden said to Julien, once he had gathered himself again.

"Alright."

Aiden then once again took Mara's arm into his hands and brought it up to his mouth. This time he didn't hesitate. He just closed his eyes and bit down.

Mara pressed her other hand to her mouth, stifling a surprised scream. It hurt. _A lot._

The spot where Aiden bit down burned and itched and the feeling of Aiden sucking at the wound just felt weird. She clenched her jaw and tried to think about something that would distract her but all what popped into her head was the dream she had that night.

Mara gasped when she felt Aiden remove his lips from her arm for a moment just to then lick the bite clean. She only then noticed that Julien was gone. Immediately, she began to panic. He promised that he would stop Aiden if this got angerous and then he just walked off like that?!

"You okay?", Aiden asked, wiping at his mouth, looking at Mara with those eyes, those blown pupils rimmed with just a hint of blue.

"Yeah", Mara groaned and tried to move her arm. The whole damn thing hurt like it was rolled over by a car.

"Don't move", Julien suddenly said, returning to the living room, placing something cold and wet on her arm. She looked over her shoulder and saw him press a towel onto the bite. "It's probably going to bruise."

"I'm so sorry", Aiden said.

"Don't be", Julien said before Mara had the chance to, "For your first feeding attempt it was great. You managed to stop by yourself, didn't take too much and didn't rip her arm out."

"Wow, thanks a-", Mara cut herself off, "You said first attempt?"

"Until now, Aiden has exclusively been drinking from me", Julien said, checking the bite, "As you can imagine this is highly inefficient for us but it was the safest way."

"Please don't tell me that this will become a regular thing", Mara said, covering her face with her untouched arm, feeling like she could cry from exhaustion and the idea of having to do this again.

"Not necessarily. But for the time being we should try to find a schedule."

"A schedule for _what_?", Mara asked slightly agitated.

"A schedule to keep Aiden from starving. It would be best to alternate, until we find a way to have him feed from other sources."

"Oh, _fucking great_", Mara groaned.

After a month or so, Mara found that this wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. _Schedule_ in Julien's terms, meant that he checked in on them every week, letting Aiden have a little of his blood, while Mara only had to give hers twice for the entire time. He said something about vampire blood being more potent or nutritious or whatever, it wasn't like she was taking notes on all of this.

When it came to their next session, Julien said that he had great news.

"You're early", Mara said, a little surprised to see him, "Aiden won't be back until about half an hour."

"That's okay, I just came back from my last lecture", Julien said with a dismissive smile.

"Can I bring you something? A drink?"

"No, thank you. Can I use your balcony for a second?"

"Uh, sure", Mara said, not sure what to expect but she immediately understood when he pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket.

"I didn't know you smoked", she said with a slight grin on her face when he repositioned himself to the balcony and she remained leaning in the door frame.

"I try to not smoke on Campus", he explained, lighting one, "Sets a bad example."

"You know that almost every other student vapes, right?"

"Still", he said, taking a drag.

"Do cigarettes even work for vampires?", Mara asked.

"Aside from the taste and smell, not really. It's more of a habit of mine. Most vampires continue keep habits from when they were human."

"Huh, so even vampires don't have super-human self-control", Mara said, only realizing after she had finished her sentence, how wrongly this could be interpreted as. Luckily, Julien didn't seem to mind.

"In fact, a lot of vampires develop addictive personalities. I guess that comes with being the way we are."

Mara hummed understandingly.

"I've been meaning to ask you something", she then said.

"What is it?"

"You said that being bitten feels good, that it doesn't hurt. Is that only true for vampires because everytime Aiden bites me, it feels like being teated as a dog's toy."

Julien laughed and took another drag before answering, "No, it's just that Aiden isn't doing it right. It takes practice. It doesn't hurt _me_ as much because vampires tend to have a higher pain tolerance. That's all."

"Hm. Okay."

"Why? Are you curious?", Julien said with a sly grin behind the raised hand with the cigarette.

"Ah! Uhm ... not necessarily ...", Mara mumbled, the bright flush on her cheeks betraying her.

"I see that you'd like to know", he purred, leaning towards her.

Mara yelped a little when she felt a hand between her shoulder blades. She didn't even see him move his arm.

"With a little practice it's easy to lure someone in", he continued, amber eyes looking directly into hers, making her wanting to look away in embarrassment but she couldn't.

"Just like that, make them unable to move, unable to flee and when the right moment comes", he said, leaning further in, the smell of smoke choking her, "You're just going to bite."

A the last words, Mara was sure that she could feel his lips on her neck and an electric shudder ran down her spine before Julien suddenly withdrew and continued smoking as if nothing had happened.

"Oh _fuck,_ Julien!", Mara breathed angrily, when she finally came out of her stupor.

"Sorry", Julien chuckled, "I think I might've overdone it."

"I thought you really were going to bite me."

"I won't, don't worry."

"I ...", Mara stuttered, suddenly feeling a little light-headed, "I wouldn't mind, you know."

"Hm, is that so?", Julien said and Mara thought about taking it all back when she saw his eyes slightly darken, when they became half-lidded and the grin returned.

"I-I'm just curious!"

"Well, maybe another time", Julien said, the dangerous atmosphere gone again like that, "Aiden's home."

"How do you-?", Mara began and then heard the door open, "You and your damn vampire senses."

"Oh, hi", he greeted Julien on the balcony. "Is it time already? I thought we were due next Saturday."

Mara let Julien come back into the flat and closed the door behind her.

"I have news", he said and pulled out a small piece of paper from his pockets, "Here."

Aiden curiously took it into his hands. "What is that?"

"Your new supplier", Julien said, "I wanted to get you someone who has a little more experience with this. You should give him a call tonight."

"So this is it?", Mara asked, "I don't have to give blood anymore?"

"Yes. Although, I will still come in twice a month to check in on you two for now."

"And you said back then that you weren't our nanny", Mara snorted.

"I didn't want to be", Julien groaned, "Taking care of a newly turned vampire is usually the responsibility of their sire. Being in this situation, it was the best I could do to avert the worst."

"Thank you", Mara said, "We owe you."

"Don't mention it."

Mara was glad that she didn't have to give Aiden blood anymore. She was sick of the constant bruising and not being able to use her arm for a day after each bite. But she also felt a little lonely on the weekends when Aiden went over to his _supplier_, or donor, or feeder, or whatever terms vampires had for those people. She wondered what is was like, being someone who supposedly got paid for getting bitten by a vampire. At the same time, Mara couldn't get what Julien said out of her brain and couldn't help but wonder what Julien's bite would feel like.

_Well, maybe another time._

Like a mantra, this thought kept haunting her throughout the weekend. She felt weird just calling him about this. Needy, begging for it. And it wasn't like she could casually ask him about this, unlike Aiden, she didn't see him regularly at college and going there for that wasn't the right thing to do either. So she decided to wait for a good moment to ask, a moment where they were alone for a minute, uninterrupted by Aiden or by blood donation business. And this turned out to be a long time coming, making Mara more and more irritated because the strange dream kept reoccurring and each time it was getting longer, more intense and involved more and more biting.

"You look awful", Phil said when they both were working the day shift as Mara handed him a pile of documents.

"I literally slept one hour tonight, so yeah", she said, leaning back against his table, hands supporting her weight on the tabletop. "Are we going to Beans & Barley for lunch?"

"Sure. Here's the new report, by the way."

"Thanks, okay. Hit me up when you're ready to go."

"So", Phil began, after they ordered their food and took a seat, "Everything okay again with you and Aiden? You seemed in a rush a while ago."

"Y-yeah... Everything's fine again", Mara nervously said, "But he spends the weekends over with a friend, so I'm feeling a little lonely."

"Hey, a friend of mine invited me to his monthly movie night, I'm sure he won't say no, if you wanted to come along."

"Sounds good, why not?"

"Oh, you're leaving?", Aiden asked on the following Saturday. He just woke up, although it already was six in the evening. "Where are you going?"

"Movie night with some friends."

"Oh. Nice."

"Yeah", she said, pulling her boots on, "And you? Going to see your ... uh ... supplier?"

"No, he's away for this week, but I'll be fine."

"Alight. I'm probably gonna stay the night over, so don't wait for me."

"Have fun!", Aiden said, before she left.

She didn't know the guy Phil was talking about, he was living somewhere further in the city. Valentine, was his name. Liked Horror movies and, according to Phil, had an awful sense of humor.

If Phil hadn't mentioned that Valentine owned the entirety of American Horror Story, she wouldn't have considered driving an hour across the city for a movie night. That, and the chance to finally get away from her flat. Mara felt a little nervous when she rang the bell. She didn't know Phil's friend circle aside from their shared colleagues. And she felt her heart skip a beat when a new face opened the door. Wide cocky grin, bright green eyes, tousled black hair, he opened the door.

"Hi", he said, and _fuck_, his voice, Mara thought. Smooth and mellifluous, like some kind of voice actor. "You must be Mara."

"Yeah, hi", she said back after processing what he said.

"Please, come in", he said and made a step to the side to let her in.

"Thank you ..."

"Valentine", he said, reaching his hand out. When Mara returned the handshake, his touch felt electric. Almost like ... like in the dreams she was having.


	6. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you walk in on your roommate, your roommate will walk in on you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: There will be some making out in this chapter, but no explicit stuff!

"Phil said you also like American Horror Story?", was what Valentine asked when he guided her to the living room, where Phil was already seated.

"I do", Mara said with a short laugh, "Am I too early?"

"No, the others are just late, like usual", Phil said after a short greeting.

"So, which season is your favourite?", Valentine asked, leaning on the wall next to the couch.

"I really liked Coven and Apocalypse."

"Coven is a good one! I also really liked Cult and Hotel."

"Oh, I never got into Hotel, honestly", Mara confessed.

"No way!", Valentine said, straighting himself, "Hotel is a cult classic!"

"Doesn't change the fact that I didn't like it!"

Valentine huffed through his nose.

"You two are getting along really well", Phil said over the rim of the glass he was holding. "I'm glad."

"Huh?", Mara wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"Don't listen to him", Valentine said, waving his hand dismissively. "He'll try to tell you that I'm difficult to work with, that I'm an asshole."

"Is that true?", Mara laughed at Phil.

"Oh, you bet it is", he said, slight annoyance in his voice. "It's a wonder he manages to keep us around as friends."

Mara raised an eyebrow and looked back at Valentine, who just raised his hands in defense with a look that said "Not my fault."

"Okay, well-", Mara began, feeling her jeans for her phone and startling. "Fuck."

"What is it?", Phil asked.

"I think I forgot my phone", she said, standing up.

"Let me drive you", Valentine said. "Phil said you live across town."

"Hey, with what car?", Phil intervened.

"With yours" Valentine said cheekily and ushered Mara towards the door.

"I think I'm beginning to see what Phil meant earlier", Mara chuckled and pushed the door handle down.

Mara hurried up the stairs and unlocked the door.

"Hey Aiden, have you seen my pho-", Mara ran straight into the living room, unprepared for what she would see, "Oh _fuck_."

Aiden was seated on the couch, his back to Mara and his head nestled into the crook of a neck, hips rolling into the lap under him. Underneath him was Julien, head thrown back, eyes closed and hands slipped under the waistband of Aiden's jeans. When Mara exclaimed her shock, Aiden didn't stop, but Julien opened his eyes, giving her a tired look until he seemed to recognize her.

"Aiden", he cooed, "Aiden, it's enough."

But the younger vampire didn't stop, until Julien gave him a hard smack onto his back, which lead to Aiden dislodging his mouth from his shoulder, to gasp.

"Sorry to interrupt", Mara said, hurrying to her room to get her phone and leaving for the door again a moment after.

"Wait!", Julien said after her, his voice sounding a little slurred.

"I'm in a hurry", she said, slightly irritated. It was already enough to have walked in on the like that a _second_ time.

"Hold up, young lady", Julien repeated, voice sounding more clear. "Where were you?"

"None of your business?", she said, slightly surprised.

"Mara", there was something angry, something menacing in his voice when he grabbed her arm, "Where. Were. You."

"Hanging out with friends? What's wrong with you?"

"Who are those friends?"

"Listen, I really don't have time for this, okay? I have a friend waiting downstairs for me."

"Mara, you-"

But she already had left the flat and ran down the stairs as quickly as possible, fearing that Julien might follow her.

A little out of breath, she took her seat in the car again.

"That was quick", Valentine said, after starting the engine, "You didn't have to hurry, you know?"

"No it's ... nevermind."

"Oh, I do mind", Valentine said, pulling onto the main street. "Something happened?"

"Just walked in on my roommate making out. Nothing serious."

Valentine laughed. "Wow, that's surely something! Glad that I live alone."

"Yeah, it's always really awkward for a couple days after that."

"Ah, that's not what I meant", Valentine chuckled, "My roommate would be the one walking in on me all the time, ha ha."

"Oh", was all that Mara could say to this and let out a nervous laugh out of politeness.

She suddenly came to understand what Phil said about him.

They arrived at the flat, only to find that the other two guests have arrived as well. Everyone brought a movie that they watched and Mara was glad, that Phil's friend group has quite the diverse taste in movies ranging from Sci-Fi to Horror to even a decently funny RomCom. Mara wasn't sure what to bring, so she settled on bringing *Baby Driver*, a movie that most of her friends liked back when they watched it at the cinema because it was both filled with action and also comedy. Phil brought_ Mulan_, which honestly did surprise Mara but she was glad either way, because it was something light and nice to end the night with. Once they finished their marathon, it was way past midnight.

"You're free to stay", Valentine said to Phil and Mara after the other two had left already, "It's really late already and I'd feel bad if I forced you to drive at the hour."

"Thanks, we can change at work", Phil yawned and Mara nodded, "I think I'll take the couch."

"I have a day bed in my room or a camping bed if you'd like", Valentine then said to Mara.

"I'm gonna be fine with the day bed, thank you."

"Then follow me", Valentine said and lead her to his room. He handed her a large pillow and a comforter from his closet and prepared the bed for her.

While he was setting everything up for her, the thought that he might have a lot of people over, crossed her mind. Considering that he had a day bed and extra bedding in his room. She certainly didn't and didn't even live alone.

"All done!", he said and sat down on the bed, patting the free spot next to him. Mara sat down and put the comforter and pillow behind her.

"You know", Valentine said, leaning on his elbows, "I'm glad Phil brought you along, you're really nice."

"Thank you, I guess", Mara said, a little bashful.

"Don't be fooled, I know that I'm not easy to deal with", he continued, "Even if Phil will pretend that I'm doing it on purpose."

"You're pretty buddy-buddy with him, huh?"

"Yeah, we've known each other for a while, met somewhere around when he started working at the office. He's a good guy, I have no idea why he still sticks around."

"Maybe you're not as bad as you think you are", Mara said impulsively and bit her cheek after that. It just slipped out.

"Oh, you think so?", Valentine beamed and sit up again.

"I mean, I can see what he said about you but I've met worse."

Valentine wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh really?" He looked at her with those green eyes that shimmered in the faint light that was coming through the window behind her, making her heart jump a little.

*Curse you, pretty guys.*

The next evening, after both her and Phil made it to work a little mangled, she arrived back at her flat, feeling relief at the thought of sleeping in her bed again. She was also relieved that Julien was gone.

"Is something wrong?", she asked Aiden when she warmed herself a slice of homemade pizza in the microwave. "Do I have something on my face?"

Since he heard her come home, he had been looking at her weirdly, as if he was trying to figure out whether or not she got a haircut.

"You ... you smell different", he finally said.

"I spent the night over someone's place, so yeah. I guess."

"No, I mean ...", Aiden said and Mara crinkled her nose when he _sniffed_ the air. "There's a scent on you, like a perfume. But it's not, you know?"

"I don't", she huffed, "First Julien was acting weird and now you. What's up with you guys?"

"I know the scent of your coworkers", Aiden continued.

"Gross."

"But now it's different. Did you meet someone new?"

"Yeah, actually. Why? We just had a movie night, if that's what you're trying to ask."

"N-no!", Aiden blushed a little and Mara was surprised that he still could, "I mean, I just found it odd."

"I can-", Mara wasn't able to finish her sentence, because her phone suddenly started ringing. "Sorry. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead."

"Hello?", Mara asked into her phone, not recognizing the number.

"Hi, Mara, it's me."

"Oh hi", she said, a little relived to hear that it's not some spam-caller but instead Valentine.

"Were you thinking about me? You sound a little surprised."

Mara laughed. "How'd you guess that?"

"Intuition", Valentine laughed. "I wanted to ask whether or not you'd like to fetch some coffee later. I'm doing some business in your side of town and thought we could spend some time together."

Feeling herself blush a little, she turned away from Aiden. "Are you asking me on a date?", she whispered in surprise.

"Maybe?"

"Alright, okay", Mara huffed through her nose, a little amused, "How about we meet at Sally's at seven?"

"Sounds good. See ya."

"See you, bye", Mara said and ended the call.

"A date?", Aiden asked, eyes wide.

"Looks like it", Mara said, a little surprised herself. "We're just getting coffee, though."

That was what she said, what she really meant, but when she met Valentine, and they had a nice evening, she decided to invite him over. They were giggling, having a good time, when they stumbled into the flat, both a little tired and exhausted and were met by Aiden, who passed them to get to the kitchen. While passing, Mara didn't notice the strange look he was giving Valentine and he didn't as well.

She closed the door to her room behind them and was pulled onto her bed by Valentine.

"H-hey!", she called out, when Valentine rolled onto his side and laughed, when she had to comb her hair out of her face.

"So, what do we want to do?", Valentine asked, sly grin on his face, looking at Mara with those emerald eyes. "We can watch a movie, or maybe", he said with a low voice, trailing his fingers softly up her arm, "do something else?"

"We ... we should take one step at a time, don't you think?"

"Step one", Valentine breathed, face suddenly so close to Mara that their noses almost touched, "is a little kiss."

"Okay", Mara breathed and Valentine leaned in so their lips touched.

The kiss was was chaste at fist, just a little nip at each others lips but then they kissed again. And again. And the fourth time the kiss was a little more passionate, involved a little touching on both sides. Mara ran her arms up Valentine's chest, while he rested his hands on her hips.

"Step Two", Valentine purred, nosing at Mara's neck, "Is getting rid of our clothes." His hands wandered under her shirt, gently rubbing circles into the small of her back.

"You sure?", Mara breathed back. She felt unusually frisky, normally she would have taken this even slower.

"Of course", he breathed back and they both clumsily slid out of their shirts first.

"Valentine", Mara felt breathless when he ran his hands up her arms, resting them on her shoulders.

"Mmhm?"

"I want you to-", the sound of the door crashing open interrupted Mara and she was suddenly ripped out of her trance.

"Get away from her!", Julien hissed and wound his arm around Valentine's neck, pulling him away from the bed. "Aiden, get me the cuffs!"

"What...?", Mara said, feeling like she woke up from a dream and managed to cover herself with her comforter.

"I knew something was off when you came back from this_ friend"_, Julien hissed and secured Valentine's arms together in the front. Mara saw that Valentine's fingers were tipped black and looked ... _clawlike._

"What's going on?", she tried again and was startled a little bit by Julien glaring at her.

"You, my dear, have made the mistake of inviting an Incubus into your home."

"A_ what?_", Mara asked, the term vaguely familiar.

"A sex demon", Julien clarified, pushing Valentine into the corner between the door and the closet on the other wall. "And a nasty one at that."

"Long time no see, Jules", Valentine spat and Mara noticed that his eyes were lighter, sharper than before, contrasting Julien's blown pupils. Aiden had meanwhile disappeared out of Mara's sight again.

"I thought you left the city", Julien snarled, "And I thought we made it clear that you should especially keep out of this part of town."

"Well, a pity that I don't care about Vampire politics", Valentine spat back, "And as far as I know Ed gave us all permission to do as we please. You included."

"I am not like you", Julien shouted angrily, bowing down to the demon to make eye contact.

"I see it in your eyes", Valentine said, voice angry, but the mischievous look was already back. "You know what happens to an incubus when interrupted."

"I know", Julien gritted, glaring at him. "Mara, take Aiden with you and leave the flat."

"What? Why?", she said, searching for her shirt and pulling it back on.

"I said_ leave!_", Julien screamed and Mara hurried out of her room to grab Aiden by the sleeve and lead him out with a shy nod.

Unlike with Aiden's transformation, she wasn't keen on finding out what would happen now.


	7. Malevolence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is PWP and includes explicit sex. Feel free to skip this chapter if that makes you uncomfortable.

"You haven't changed a bit", Valentine laughed when Julien pulled him up by the handcuffs and dragged him towards Aiden's room to throw him roughly onto the bed.

"Shut up", Julien hissed.

"How would you like me today?", the demon asked, "I know you like 'em docile and submissive when you're angry."

"Oh, don't feel the need to change to my preferences", Julien laughed darkly, "I'd rather have you begging by yourself."

He then proceeded to turn the demon onto his side. "I'd rather have you scream my name in pain like you mean it."

"How scary. I don't remember you being this rough", Valentine chuckled.

"Haven't fed in a week", Julien snarled, pushing Valentine's head into the mattress.

"Don't be like that", Valentine pouted, "I know you're just angry at me for barging in like that."

"_Shut. Up_", Julien hissed again, yanking the demon's pants down, leaving him just in his underwear before disposing of his own clothes.

He flipped the demon on his back again, actually just to pull his underwear off, but secretly stopped a moment to admire the size of the bulge straining against the black fabric over his leg.

"Like what you see?", Valentine said, slightly thrusting his hips upwards.

"Are you getting _bigger_?", Julien asked, sounding almost a little shocked. "I don't remember you being _this_ large."

"You know what they say about a demon's power", Valentine grinned, dick twitching under the fabric.

"You little...", the vampire grabbed Valentine's hands by the cuffs and pressed them above his head, to keep them out of the way.

With his other, free hand, he first grabbed one butt cheek and pressed one finger lightly against the soft spot underneath the fabric, drawing out a moan from the demon.

"Fuck, just undo the cuffs", he said, breathless, "Let me touch you, Julien."

"Are you saying that because I want to hear it or do you mean it?", he growled, pressing the finger a little tighter to the spot, then running his hand upwards over the bulge to the tip.

"I mean it, please! Fuck, Julien, _please_!"

With a quick flick of his wrist, the cuffs came undone, letting Valentine's black talons explore the cold body above him. Julien leaned down, sucking on the demon's plush lower lip, grazing the fragile skin on the inside just barely with his fangs while the demon was running his hands up and down his arms to Julien's shoulders and back.

"You're so _desperate_", Valentine moaned, "fucking an incubus like me."

"And you're overly needy."

"Don't play dumb _-ah_", Valentine's breath hitched when Julien finally pulled the pre-cum soaked underwear off and felt cold air on his wet skin. "Your pheromones are trying to suffocate me."

Julien chuckled and drew a deep breath, inhaling Valentine's scent at the crook of his neck. He hated how familiar it was; the heady mix of vanilla and something powdery, floral underneath the biting scent of sulfur.

"What was I supposed to do? The flat was already full of your scent, Val. It's a wonder the fledgling didn't freak out."

"He's probably not as sensitive to them as you."

"Val, I'm currently barely holding onto my dignity", Julien said and relished in the groan that came out of Valentine's mouth when he ran his hand down his torse, stopping only to grab the base of his cock, giving Valentine one, two strokes to slick his fingers before he started to draw circles onto the furly muscle between his ass cheeks.

"You're so lucky, Jules."

The vampire hummed questioningly while he was sucking a bruise into the skin above Valentine's collarbone.

"You -_fuck_", one finger went in, "That vampire fledgling? He reeks of you, I assume you've been either fucking or feeding him, probably both knowing you. And the girl _hah_", a second one went in and Valentine's voice continued to come out shaky as Julien started to scissor them inside. "The girl, she's almost untouched. _ah~!_ If you knew what she's been dreaming about-", a third one entered Valentine's body and all thoughts were temporarily reduced to nothing when Julien crooked his fingers, hitting his prostate.

"I don't want to hear about whatever fantasies you gave her", Julien said, pulling his fingers back out, deciding that Valentine didn't need any more preparation.

"I didn't", the demon sighed, "Just took a little peek at her dream when she spent a night over." Valentine smirked. "She was dreaming about a certain blond vampire with amber eyes."

"Lying doesn't suit you", Julien said and sat back to lick along one of the veins along Valentine's member.

"Check it for yourself", Valentine said weakly, one hand covering his mouth and the other clenching at the bed sheets. "She's curious, she's easy prey."

"Do you ever shut up?", Julien huffed, giving the tip of Valentine's dick a final swipe with his tongue.

"Make me."

"Gladly."

Julien leaned over the demon and crashed his lips into Valentine's again, both of them moaning and groaning into each other's mouths, frotting their dicks. After a while, when Julien felt his mouth tingle slightly from the incubus venom, he sat back and grabbed Valentine's thighs, pulling him onto his lap. The demon wrapped his legs around Julien's waist and rolled his hips.

"Fuck me, Julien. _Fuck me_."

Another waft of the sickly sweet smell hit Julien when he aligned his dick with Valentine's hole, making him shudder and the dick in his hand throb. With one swift movement of his hips, Julien had entered Valentine, making the demon cry out, tears gathering in his eyes.

_"Ah~!_ Shit", he whimpered, green eyes dark and glassy, "I forgot how big you were when you get all riled up~."

"I'm not Ed, though", Julien laughed, slowly pulling out and pushing back in.

"No, Ed would've split anyone right open", Valentine laughed and gasped when Julien started to pick his pace up, making the demon finally stop talking.

There was nothing more to say between them, just the sound of wet flesh hitting wet flesh and their occasional moaning and grunting. Valentine was grabbing helplessly at the sheets, trying to find any kind of support until Julien hoisted him up again, to reach deeper inside, and leaned down to him.

"Julien", Valentine moaned, reaching up to his back for support instead of the bed. The vampire hissed when he felt the claws scrape down his back and licked a stripe from the demon's collarbone to his ear.

"Julien", Valentine repeated and Julien hummed in response, sucking at the skin on his neck again. "I'm close."

Julien smashed into him a couple more times, enough to make the bed creak, before he gave Valentine an open-mouthed kiss on his neck and bit down. He deliberately used more force than he would usually, but Valentine was resilient. Not human. And the blood tasted like it. It tasted stale and old and left a lingering taste of spice on his tongue. But it was blood and would sate his hunger for a few days at least.

He felt his orgasm approach a few moments after Valentine, who had coated both their stomachs with an obscene amount of spunk.

"Let's get you cleaned up", Julien grunted, getting up from the bed, trying to not get the sheets dirty; he would have to apologize to Aiden either way after this. This wasn't his bed and the situation was as awkward as is. Then he scooped Valentine up and carried him into the bathroom so that he could take a shower, while Julien was airing out the flat. Mara might not react to the pheromones but Aiden surely will and it wasn't worth the risk even if Julien stayed.

After Valentine was done with his shower and had put his clothes back on, he leaned in the door frame to the living room, waiting for Julien to say something.

"What?", he said.

"I don't know if it's appropriate to thank you", Valentine huffed, already back to his usual mischievous self. "Because there was no reason for you to do this."

"There was, Valentine."

"The girl? She was in no danger at any time. She consented and I wasn't going to kill her."

"You know it doesn't work like that."

"It doesn't?", Valentine snorted, "Listen, I didn't charm Mara. I didn't use my glamour on her. I think you seem to forget that some of us have a life outside of sex as well."

Julien said nothing, just visibly gritted his teeth. This time, Valentine didn't wait for an answer.

"Or maybe you're just jealous", Valentine said, smirking at the way Julien's head suddenly snapped towards him, "Maybe you stopped me because you want her all to yourself."

Julien suddenly stood up, looming over Valentine aggressively. "I think it's time for you to leave."

"Oh, did I hit a nerve?"

"I don't want to see your wretched face around those two ever again", Julien said, voice calm, but tone stern.

"Too bad, because Mara and I are friends", Valentine said, ready to leave. "Be quick, Julien. Now that she'll carry the scent of a fledgling vampire and an incubus on her, it's just a matter of time, 'til somebody with less than good intentions finds her."


	8. Coward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentine left and Mara chickens out to get drunk.

Mara was in the middle of drinking her coffee, when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Mara, it's me", Julien said. "Valentine left."

"Oh, alright", she said, with a surprised look towards Aiden. "We'll be back in about 10 minutes."

"Julien?", Aiden asked after Mara hung up.

"Yeah. It's over, it seems like."

"It reeks in here", Aiden said, wrinkling his nose when they entered the flat.

"Yeah sorry", Julien said, leaning in the door way, waiting for them already. "I tried to air out as much as possible."

"Could you two please _fucking_ slow down for a minute and tell me what exactly has been happening here?", Mara said, feeling incredibly anxious about the fact that she had no idea what was going on.

Julien let out a long sigh and gestured towards the living room. "Let's sit down first."

"I ...", Mara began, taking a deep breath, "I don't know where to even start asking. You said Valentine is an_ incubus_?"

"Yes."

"Like, the real deal? A real sex demon?"

"Yes", Julien affirmed again and earned a bewildered look from her.

"So it doesn't stop at vampires?"

"No, I'm afraid it doesn't, Mara."

"But how ... why ... ?"

"Valentine might be an absolute catastrophe of a person but I don't think he wanted to harm you."

"Then why did you barge in like that?"

"When Aiden called and said that the guy you brought home smelled like foul eggs and rotten fruit, I knew that it had to be a demon. I couldn't know that it was him."

"So you know each other, huh?", Mara asked, idly picking at a piece of cuticle on her fingers.

"Yeah, unfortunately", Julien sighed, "We're a tightly knit community, after a couple of years, you get to know most of the others."

Mara knew that this couldn't be the entire story, but for now, it was good enough for her. "And you two-?", **_fucked,_** was what she wanted to ask instead.

"Y-yes", Julien said, visibly flustered, "Interrupting an incubus while feeding is incredibly dangerous, and we were lucky that I _barged_ in, as you called it, in time."

"O-oh..."

Julien gave Aiden an apologetic look. "I'm afraid that the flat might smell like him for a few days, even if you air out regularly."

"Hey, while we're at it", Mara interrupted, "I didn't notice any weird smell coming from him."

"It's ... complicated. As a fledgling, Aiden's not yet accustomed to the enhanced sense of smell yet, that's why he reacted the way he did. Incubi, and succubi for that matter, are very good at directing their pheromones, that's why you didn't notice the smell, but your roommate did."

"This is all so confusing", Mara sighed and earned a hearty laugh from Julien.

For a couple days, around a week and a half, everything returned to normal and Mara wasn't complaining. It was hard enough to deal with the fact that her roommate was a vampire, even after all that time, but having a sense of_ normality_ was certainly welcome.

That was, until she got a phone call on her way home from work.

"Julien? Did something happen?", she asked, when she saw his number on the display.

"N-no ... well, yes", he said, hesitantly, "Mara, can I ask you a favour?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I ... There has been a lot of trouble with the exams lately and I kind of forgot taking care of myself, so it has been almost three weeks since I fed", he explained, almost rambling, "I wanted to ask if you could fill in once."

"Julien, I don't ... I-"

"If you don't want to, you are free to say no. I just wanted to ask you just in case your ... well ... _offer_ from last time still stood. And you were the first person that came to mind."

"No, Julien I didn't say no", Mara said, yelping a bit when she was almost fell forward from the train abruptly stopping, "I'm on my way home, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay. Thank you", Julien said and ended the phone call.

Julien almost arrived simultaneously with Mara, just a few minutes apart.

"Hi", she greeted him, "Would you like some coffee or-"

"Sorry, but I'd rather get this over with quickly", Julien said, nervously fumbling with his coat.

"Of course", Mara said, sitting down on her couch, waiting.

"You .. you might want to lie down", Julien said, trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible while he got himself a chair from the kitchen and put it down next to the couch.

"Why the chair?", Mara asked curiously, after she rested her head on the sofa's arm rest.

"I'm not going to crouch on the floor like some kind of animal", Julien huffed and Mara relaxed slightly at his amused tone.

"Do you really want to do this?", Julien asked after he sat down on the chair, hands neatly folded in his lap. "You can still say no."

"I ... I'm just nervous", she said, nervously rubbing her wrists. "I know I shouldn't be, not after Aiden, but ... still."

"It's okay", Julien assured her, "You have every right to feel nervous about this. Just tell me when you're ready."

"I don't think I'm getting any readier", Mara chuckled and extended her arm towards him.

"Feel free to stop me", he said, carefully taking it into his hands.

He kissed the heel of her hand and set his lips a little further up her lower arm. He took a deep breath, out of habit, to calm himself. He felt warmth radiate off of Mara's skin, the rush of blood just millimeters away. He set his fangs onto her skin, ready to bite down, when she suddenly shouted "Wait!"

"What's wrong?", Julien asked, genuine worry in his voice but not his eyes.

"I ... don't ... I don't think I can do this", Mara said, her voice shaky but a faint smile on her lips. "Sorry."

"No need to be sorry. Hey! Where are you going?", Julien asked when she got up and pulled on her shoes in the hallway.

"I need some fresh air."

And by that she meant getting into a train only to find herself at Valentine's doorstep. He was just as surprised to see her as she was to find herself there.

"Mara? What are you doing here?", he asked, letting her in his flat.

"I ... ha", she laughed to herself, "I don't know honestly. Needed to talk to someone."

"Come on in, then. Do you want something to drink?"

"Tea would be great, thank you."

About five minutes later, they were sitting on Valentine's couch in the living room.

"Did something happen?", he asked her, when she took a long sip of the hot liquid.

"Not really", she lied, "Just been having a lot on my mind lately."

"Huh, is it because we-"

"No", Mara said abruptly. "No, but Julien filled us in."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, he told us that you are an ... incubus", Mara vaguely gestured towards him, "and all."

Valentine smirked, but didn't say anything, prompting Mara to continue with his silence.

"At first, I wasn't sure what to think of that, but in hindsight ... well, I still don't know, honestly."

"Are you scared of me now?", he asked.

"No", she said, eying him as if to reconsider, "That is, unless you used some kind of spell on me."

The demon laughed. "I can assure you that I didn't use any kind of magic on you. You seemed nice enough and in the mood, so I didn't have to."

"So, that's it?", she sighed, "Was I just another one-night-stand?"

"Well, yeah", Valentine said, his smile apologizing and sad, "We're not really the type to commit to a relationship, you see. But if it soothes your mind, I found it really nice", he softly rubbed circles into Mara's knee that was facing towards him on the couch.

"I also found it nice", Mara said, hiding a little behind her cup, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. "But I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Aiden said that you smelled like rotten eggs, why can't I smell that?"

Valentine burst out in laughter for a moment. "Well, some supernaturals like vampires have a heightened sense of smell, so they kind of react like that to us."

"Huh. And Julien doesn't mind?"

"Julien?"

"Well, he sounded like he knew you very well, so I assume that he at least tolerates you around him."

"Oh, that. Yeah, it depends. Once we get into the mood it becomes less noticeable, even to others."

"Does everyone have a smell like that?", she asked curiously.

"I mean, every single person smells different to different kinds of supernaturals", Valentine started explaining, sounding just slightly dismissively. "But after a while you tend to pick up certain trends."

"Like what?"

"Well, I for once, think that my kind doesn't have the sulfur undertone that vampires or werewolves tend to notice."

"Wait, wait, so werewolves are a thin now?"

"Of course? I don't recommend spending time with them, though. They tend to be loners and react especially bad to other supernaturals. Anyways, where was I?"

"You were talking about how other incubi smell."

"Right. So, I think my kind, be it incubi or succubi, smell kind of fruity, like overripe dark fruits. Whereas vampires are a little different. They all smell like dirt to me, after it rained, you know. But there's always something underneath that that makes it easy to differentiate them."

"In what way?", Mara interrupted again, "Sorry, I'm just really curious what you know because I can't see the differences."

"Vampires are actually a very tightly knit community and they like to organize into something they call _Houses_. I call them bloodlines, but _po-tay-to, po-tah-to._ It's basically a family of vampires that are related through their makers."

"Do Julien and Aiden belong to the same House?"

"God no", Valentine said, wrinkling his nose, "I'm not sure, but your roommate smells a lot like the Seymours."

"Is that bad?"

"Not by itself, but I tend to avoid them for multiple reasons."

"And Julien?"

Valentine shrugged. "Dunno. He's foreign, he doesn't smell like anything that lives around here."

"Foreign?"

"God, he didn't tell you anything, did he?", Valentine said a little surprised, "Julien came here ages ago, all the way from France."

"_France?_ You can't be serious."

"I am! I think Julien is his actual name, Hardy might not be, but I'd rather not dig through his backstory. Older supernaturals don't react well to that."

Mara nodded. She didn't dare to ask what older meant for non-supernaturals. "What about these Seymours you mentioned?"

"They're the largest bloodline in this city, mostly because they embrace a lot of people and leave them to die in the alleys. Have that sick_ survival of the fittest_ mentality", Valentine grimaced, "I know two of them personally, not by choice of course, they run a club downtown."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I'd bet money that your friend was turned there by some shady guys. But there are other vampire clubs in town, of course."

Mara just hummed, thinking.

"Hey, don't you even think about going to that place", Valentine said as a genuine warning, "You smell of me and of two other vampires."

"I just wanna know what happened to Aiden."

"He got turned, okay. That's the story", Valentine said, his voice took on an unusually stern tone, "Julien is probably already doing some investigating. This isn't something you should get involved in."

"Excuse me?", Mara said, slightly agitated.

"No, you shouldn't even be aware of all of this", Valentine hissed, "If someone finds out that you know about us, we're all going to be in big trouble."

"That's exactly what Julien said", Mara sighed. But they were right.

After about an hour or so, Mara left Valentine's flat to get her mind off of the topic. Some alcohol, some droning bass was just the right thing and she found herself at the bar of the closest club to Valentine's flat, a drink in her hand. The bitter taste of grapefruit and rosemary were just what she needed, not so much the guy sitting down next to her, ordering four drinks.

"Hey", he said to her, while he was waiting for the bartender to do his job. "You new?"

"What gave it away?", she asked over the straw in her mouth.

His dark eyes flickered towards the drink in her hand. "You ordered the most basic thing they offer."

"It tastes good", she said with a shrug and earned a laugh from him. It was melodious, even over the hard music blaring.

"You're not wrong", he said giving her a grin, "Why don't you pick something more interesting? It's on me."

"Why not?", Mara said. "What do you recommend?"

The guy looked at the glasses in the bar for a moment, visibly pondering. "Can you handle alcohol?"

"I'm no lightweight", Mara said. It wasn't a lie, she could handle her alcohol and she was here to get drunk after all, but her alcohol tolerance wasn't extraordinary as well.

"Excuse me", the guy then said to the bartender, "One Necromancer as well, please."

"_Necromancer_?", Mara laughed, "Just what the hell is in there?"

"Hm, absinthe, triple sec, vodka and some lavender syrup", he listed and grinned, "and a little lemon juice."

"You just picked the thing with the most punch, didn't you?", Mara sighed when he received the first three drinks.

"Nah, only the second most", he laughed, "Trust me, it tastes good and you don't taste the alcohol _that_ much."

"That's not the problem", Mara began but was interrupted by the guy.

"So what're doing here? This club is kinda underground."

"Oh, got recommended by a friend", she lied.

" I'm Jay, by the way", he said, "Hey that even rhymes!"

"I'm Mara", she laughed to be polite.

"So, Mara", he said after the barkeeper prepared the other drinks, "Why don't you come over to our table? I'd rather have you not sit here all by yourself."

"Uh..."

"Come on. My friends are nice, I promise!"

"Alright", she said, grabbing her drink and following him to the table across the club.


	9. Vampire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mara meets some new people at a club and things don't go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologize in advance, but the next 3 chapters or so will probably read like a fever dream. I admit that I wrote them all in one night and because I don't edit them, they're awfully paced. 
> 
> I still hope that y'all still bear with me through this episode!

"Hey!", the guy said when they arrived at the other table, "This is Mara. Mara, these are my friends Ethan and Ina."

"Hi!", Mara greeted them and earned two big smiles in return.

"I told you to stop giving random girls the Necromancer, Jay", the girl, Ina, scolded him with a look at the glass in Mara's hand. She had her blonde hair in a pixie cut and wore a burgundy leather jacket over a black overall. Her eyes were lines with a little too much eyeliner.

"She said she can handle her alcohol", Jay said back, sitting down across of her, Mara followed right after.

"That's what they all say", the other guy, Ethan grunted. He was wearing a black shirt with short sleeves. His hair looked brown and black and blue under the strobe lights and his eyes were an icy grey.

"Well, we're gonna see", Jay said, rubbing Mara's shoulder encouragingly. "You better tell us why you're here."

"H-huh?", Mara said before she took her first sip of the intimidating sounding drink. "I said, a friend recommended-"

"We both know that's not true", Jay said and Ina sighed.

"It is, though", Mara said and took a sip of the drink, her throat burning from the alcohol.

"Look, sweetie", Ina said, her tone soft even over the music that was a little quieter in the back where they were sitting, "Nobody comes here _just because._ This is an underground thing. More indie than the indie clubs."

"Your friend told me the exact same thing. But I'm telling you the truth."

"I believe her", Ethan said. "Honestly, she doesn't look like she knows anything."

"Knows anything about what?", Mara said, the realization hadn't quite settled in yet.

"Oh wait", after another sip of her drink, the floral taste still on her lips, she suddenly realized, "Oh, shit. _No_."

"What?", Jay said with furrowed brows.

That was just her luck, she thought. Valentine warned her a few hours ago and she walked right into it. She abruptly got up from the plastic couch she was sitting on and wobbled. Somewhere far away she wondered, if Jay tried to get her drunk on purpose but she probably shouldn't have lied about her alcohol tolerance.

"Hey, careful!", Jay said, catching her at her waist before she stumbled to the floor.

"I need to get out of here."

"She knows", Ina said matter-of-factly.

"Do you?", Jay asked.

"Vampires", Mara said, "Let me go."

"Hey, hey! Calm down!", Jay said when she started flailing against his grip.

"Take her to the rooms", Ethan said, guiding them towards a door further in the back.

"No! Help!", Mara screamed but her slurred shouts weren't quite audible over the loud music on the dancefloor.

She was ushered up a staircase and lead to an array of rooms with paper screen doors.

"Calm down, will ya?", Jay repeated and dropped Mara on a large bed, while remaining standing in front of her. "We're don't want to hurt you."

"I have a hard time believing that", Mara said and to her surprise, Jay and the others exchanged some confused looks.

"No, really", Ina said, crouching next to Mara, "We just want to talk, but you need to calm down."

"Just talking?", Mara asked, still wary.

"Yep", Jay said, giving her an assuring smile.

"Okay", she said, feeling her head spin from the alcohol, encouraging her to take this slow. "Let's talk."

"I'm going to ask again", Jay said, leaning on the wall beside him, "Why are you here?"

"Wanted to get drunk, chose the first club I came across. That's the entire story", Mara groaned, "I didn't know that I would end up in a vampire bar."

"Well, okay. You already said that", Jay said.

"Because it's the truth."

"How do you know about", Ina gestured towards the group, "us?"

"I ... uh ...", Mara was trying to find a way to explain the mess without putting everyone into jeopardy. "You better tell me why you're interrogating me in here!"

"Why?", Ethan said, his icy gaze fixed on her, "Because you're the only human in this place and you smell like two distinct vampires and a demon. So either you're a hunter or a doll."

"A what?"

"God, she doesn't know_ anything_", Ina groaned in frustration, "I don't think we're going to get anything from her."

"It shouldn't be that hard to find an unturned", Ethan sighed as well.

"That's it?", Mara asked.

"Feels a little disappointing, doesn't it?", Ina sighed and tapped Mara's knee before standing up. "Believe me, we're disappointed, too."

"At least tell me what you are looking for!", Mara demanded when Ethan and Ina turned to leave.

"Get her out of here", Ethan said, closing the door after them, leaving only Mara and Jay in the room.

"So...", he timidly began, "I assume you wanna to go home now?"

"Yeah...", Mara said, already dreading the upcoming headache.

"Let me just get my jacket. Did you have one with you?"

Mara shook her head and followed him downstairs on wobbly legs. She suddenly felt sick. She shouldn't have drunk all of the Necromancer at once, she thought.

"My car is just around the corner", Jay said, leading her back out of the club.

"No", Mara said, stopping right in her tracks.

"What?"

"I don't feel comfortable giving you my address."

Jay sighed and gave her a genuine smile. "Let's get into the car anyways. We'll figure something out."

Mara nodded, anything was better than walking home in the cold.

"So", Jay said when they got seated, "if you'd like, you can enter your address into Maps on your own phone, if you don't want to give me your address."

"Okay", Mara said sheepishly, fumbling to get her phone out of her jeans pocket. She thought about entering Valentine's address but she'd rather not crash at his place drunk as she was.

"Can I ask you something?", Jay said after Mara was finished setting up the navigation.

"Sure."

"Are you committed?"

"What?", Mara snapped.

"The marks on your arm", Jay explained and Mara instinctively tried to cover the skin with her hand, "They don't look that old, so I thought that you're a donor."

"Oh, that. No, no."

"No?"

"It's kind of complicated", she said, "But no, I'm not a donor."

Jay just hummed but Mara swore that she saw the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Can I ask you something in return?", she then said.

"Of course."

"Can you tell me about vampires?"

"Uh ... what in particular?", his voice suddenly sounded defensive, nervous.

"What is it like?"

"Depends on who you ask, honestly", Jay said, "Some become really miserable once they turn. But most people I know tend to deal with it just fine."

"Miserable? How?"

"Most lie to their friends and family at first, once they turn. But they're bound to notice that you don't _have to_ eat, that you're more reclusive maybe, that you don't age. Sooner or later you'll have to leave them, find your place with other vampires."

"O-oh...", Mara's mind immediately wandered to Aiden.

"Some never get over their loved ones passing away from old age, while we never will."

"You speak outta experience?", she wanted to sound compassionate, but that was impossible with how drunk she was.

"No, there was no one who would've cared if I disappeared back then", Jay explained, dark eyes suddenly sad. "But that's not the case for everyone."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

For a while none of them said anything, idly listing to the purr of the engine of the car.

"Sorry that I killed the mood", Mara finally said.

"No, it's only natural to be curious", he said.

"So, that vampire, you've been looking for..."

"Yeah, he's been causing us a lot of problems lately", Jay sighed, "It shouldn't be _this_ hard to find an unturned."

"Unturned?"

"That's someone who hasn't completed the turning process yet."

"Oh."

"Damn", Jay hissed, hitting the wheel lightly, "We were so sure that you knew something! Ethan's usually right with predicitng something like that."

"Sorry..."

"Don't be, that was our mistake", he said, finally pulling into the road where Mara lived.

"Thanks for driving", Mara said, her hand already at the door, when the car stopped.

"Wait. Give me your phone", Jay said.

"Why?"

"I'll give you my number. In case ... in case you hear _anything_ about the unturned."

"Alright", Mara said giving him her phone and then exiting the car when he was done.

"Let me go upstairs with you", he then said when she nearly fell out.

"I'm fine", she said, struggling to get onto her feet and hold her body upright.

"Remind me to not let you drink anything next time."

"Next time?", Mara yelped and dropped her keys, "Fuck."

"I mean, we can hang out again, right? I promise I won't bite."

"Ha. Ha", Mara said with an eye roll and a grin when she unlocked the door and sluggishly climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, Jay carefully watching her with his left arm around her waist to support her body.

"That's my flat", she said, "Thanks again."

"No problem."

Mara was already fumbling to find the right key when the door opened.

"Mara, you-", she heard Aiden's voice suddenly stop when his gaze met the other man and he then slammed the door shut.

Jay managed to catch the door with his arm and foot before it closed. "Wait a second."

"Leave", Aiden hissed.

"Hello? Aiden? What's going on?", Mara asked shoving the door open.

"Do you know who that is?", Aiden continued, backing away from the door.

"Uh ... that's Jay?", she said with a confused look towards him.

"Can I come in?", he asked Mara, his voice stern.

"Do you need to be invited in?"

"No, but I'd rather have your permission before he rips me to shreds", he said with a nod towards Aiden.

"Only if you tell me what's going on here", she sighed, feeling a deja vu creep in on her.

Aiden backed further away, when Jay entered the flat and Mara huffed when both men entered the living room before her. Jay was huge compared to Aiden, who wasn't the tallest guy in the first place.

"So, care to fill me in on what's going on between you two?"

Jay sighed, leaning back in the arm chair. "Thank god, that you'd let me drive you home. So we weren't wrong to question you after all."

"You're ... welcome?"

"Mara", Jay urged, "This is the guy we're been trying to find for months and now it's clear why we weren't successful."

"Uh ... I don't follow."

"All that time we were looking for an unturned and not a fledgling", Jay sighed, "And it being _you_ of all people, Aiden."

"Why does everybody know each other in this city?", Mara sighed, head already throbbing.

"We all know Aiden", Jay said, his voice sharp, "Don't we?"

Mara looked at him, who has been taking on a very defensive sitting position as far away from the other vampire as possible.

"Y-yeah...", he admitted.

"Listen", Mara said, closing her eyes for a moment to compose herself, "I'm fucking drunk and just wanna sleep right now. What is going on here?"

"Do you want to tell it to her?", Jay asked Aiden.

"No."

"Are you fine with me telling her the story?"

"No."

"Aiden", Jay warned.

"Just fucking tell it to her, okay?", Mara wasn't quite sure why Aiden was so agitated over this yet.

"Alright. Fine. Mara, Aiden was a regular at our club, not as a guest but as a_ doll_."

"You said that to me as well, what is that?"

"A doll is another word for a donor. The key difference is that they don't get paid and don't have a single vampire drinking from them."

Mara looked at Aiden, whose face took on a flushed color.

"We didn't mind, of course", Jay continued, "But a few months ago he just disappeared. For us that meant that he either committed to a single vampire or that he's dead. We only started really investigating it, after we caught wind that the Seymours got involved."

"Seymours?", Mara asked and Aiden just shook his head. He didn't know anything as well.

"Seymours aren't the most ... _friendly_ vampires. If you got bitten by one it's either death or turning. And because there wasn't a body, we assumed the latter. We didn't assume that you'd already have turned."

Jay got up from the chair. "There's nothing we can do know, but I'll let the others know. Good night, you two."

"Good night", Mara said, confused over how quickly this went over. "Why are you so awkward over this?", she then asked Aiden.

"Mara giving blood as a ... doll isn't just letting them take a little blood and that's it."

Mara stared at Aiden, dumbfounded, until she understood what he was getting at. "Oh, so you ... you two ..."

"Yeah, not just Jay", he breathed. "I thought they were going to kill me if they found me."

"Julien said we should keep low until your fledgling period is over, but Jay seemed calm", she yawned, head already throbbing. "Anyway, I'm heading to bed. Let's sort this out tomorrow."


	10. Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julien came to talk, but Mara discovers that nothing about this is simple.

To her surprise, when she woke up the next morning, and padded to the kitchen to get some water, Julien was already inside the flat.

"You look awful", he said when she passed the living room and was startled by the comment.

"_Fuck!_ Good morning to you, too", she groaned.

"Aiden called me here because there seemed to be some urgent news."

"Speaking of, where is he?", she yawned, sitting down in the arm chair. She was still very much in her nightgown, but Julien already saw her half-naked, so there was no real reason to be ashamed, she thought.

"He's already out to College? I arrived right before he left", Julien said with raised eyebrows, "It's almost noon."

Mara just groaned in response. This day certainly started off great.

"So tell me what exactly you did after you fled from me", he chuckled darkly, leaning his elbow on the arm rest beside him.

"I didn't flee from _you"_, Mara lied, taking the glass down in one go, "I just needed to get my head free."

"Free from what?"

"From this. All of this", Mara gestured in the air with the hand that wasn't holding the glass. "All the vampire stuff. And then I ended up in a vampire bar of all fucking places."

"You did _what_?", Julien shouted. He sounded angry, clenching his jaw. "Which one?"

"There's more of them?", Mara asked back.

"Which. One?"

"Uh ... Moonlight? Moonshine? Something like that?", she struggled to remember the name above the entrance and she saw Julien relax visibly.

"Thank goodness. Okay", he sighed, "Continue."

"I went in, not knowing what was going on, trying to get as drunk as possible. Then this guy came to talk to me, offered me a drink, he seemed nice so I went to his table to meet his friends."

"Friends? How many?"

"Just two. They started asking me questions. How I found out about the club what I was doing there, that stuff. I said to them that I didn't know anything and then I started realizing that they might be ..."

"Might be vampires", Julien finished her sentence. "Did you flee?"

"I tried. I was drunk, though, and the one who talked to me pulled me up the stairs to some rooms."

Julien cursed under his breath, before she continued: "They really didn't do anything, they just asked me questions!"

"What kind of questions?"

"They asked me if I've seen an unturned vampire recently."

Julien's pale face went a few shades paler.

"I didn't know anything of course, so they just drove me home afterwards. He helped me upstairs and ... and Aiden opened the door. Aiden was furious and the other guy insisted on coming in. We talked for literally five minutes. Turns out, Aiden is the unturned they were looking for. But because he already turned there was nothing that they could do, he said. That's all."

"Did he tell you why they we're looking for him?"

"Uh, yeah. I think he said that they did because the Seymours were involved."

Julien's face became hard again, deep in thought, until he seemed to remember something. "Good", he said, "We should expect trouble now. They know about the fact that Aiden turned, they also know where you two live."

"What should we do?"

"_You_ will do nothing. You're just human and if this escalates, this could end very badly for you. It's not like you could even defend against a single vampire."

"Excuse me?", Mara asked, clearly offended.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have worded it like that", he said apologetically with a faint smile. "I'd just rather not get you invoved into this further."

"Julien, hey!", there was slight agitation in Mara's voice when she ran after him after he had gotten up without another word. He already had his shoes pulled on when she grabbed his wrist.

"Mara", he said, with his voice too stern, "If you don't let go of me this instant, something very bad is going to happen."

"Julien, what-", Mara gasped when her back hit the wall and Julien was pressing her against it, his hand curling around her shoulder.

Before she could form any thought, had a chance to push him away, he nuzzled his nose into her neck.

"What would you do now?", Julien asked and she shuddered at the slightest touch of his lips on her skin. "You can't even defend yourself."

"Julien stop it! I got it the first time you said it!", Mara said, trying to push the man off of her.

"Imagine if you get bitten now", he growled and Mara's breath hitched when she felt him nip at her skin with just the slightest hint of fangs. "You'd be completely incapacitated. There would be nothing to stop me to drink you dry."

Mara clenched her teeth and tried to breathe through her nose when she felt Julien's grip harden on her wrists. She hated how she felt her pulse flutter like a scared animal's.

"Julien, you're hurting me", she said, feeling her eyes tear up from his nails digging into her skin.

His breath lingered on her neck for another moment, before he finally released her. Mara caught a faint glimpse of his golden eyes before he mumbled a "I have to leave" and was out of the door.

With the support of Julien's body gone, Mara slumped down the wall until she was on the floor. She was breathing quickly, almost hyperventilating and she felt bile rise in her throat when the hallway started spinning around her.

While she was trying to calm her racing heart down by breathing more evenly with closed eyes, she also tried to tell herself that she was just shocked.

But that wasn't very convincing, was it? Not when she had been so sure that Julien meant what he said, that he was going to drink her dry right then and there.

Once she had regathered her strength, Mara propped herself back onto her feet and went to the bathroom to turn the shower on.

When the scalding hot water hit her back, a realization hit her as well. Julien hadn't drank anything after she stormed off yesterday. Carelessly, she raised her hand to the spot on her neck where she could still feel the touch of phantom teeth and cringed. Why did she care? She didn't have a personal connection to Julien and he wasn't a fledgling like Aiden who needed a nanny to make sure he fed. She was just caught in this mess by accident. Collateral damage.

Angrily, she shut the water off and rubbed herself dry with a towel. She shouldn't care, she didn't even want to be in this situation, she was an idiot to even _think_ about asking him to bite her. She was going crazy and this was a reminder that she shouldn't have let it come this far. She closed the door to her bedroom behind her and let herself fall down onto the bed.

She wanted to apologize to Julien but for what?

_Sorry, that I didn't let you kill me because you were a little thirsty? _

Hell, no.

She was mindlessly chewing on her lower lip when her phone rang. She considered not picking up, but when the phone kept ringing longer than usual, she decided to at least check who's calling.

It was Valentine.

"Hello?", she asked rather confused.

"Oh thank goodness, you're okay", came his voice from the other end of the line.

A little stunned, she managed to say nothing.

"I ... Mara listen, I got a very upset call from Julien. He told me to check if you're okay."

"I'm ... I'm fine, yeah. Did he tell you anything else?"

"No, he just asked me to check on you. He seemed to be in a hurry."

"Okay", she sighed. "Thanks for checking in."

With that, Valentine ended the call. Julien had the decency to check in, but not personally? Mara was fuming. He was probably somewhere to busy with sucking at another girl's neck than to check in on her. Or maybe worse, doing what he did with Aiden.

She turned to her stomach and clutched a pillow. That rose another, completely different question.

Aiden was fine with a donor, didn't Julien have one? Couldn't he have gone to a club or something to get some blood? Or was it because he was a teacher, a public face, that he couldn't? Either way, for a vampire who's supposed to have a few years of experience, this was odd behaviour, Mara concluded. Heck, even for a normal person, this was awful behaviour and Mara would be lying if she found this excusable in any way. But she wasn't scared. Sure, she was shocked and she _was_ scared during all of this but she wasn't scared of Julien now. She knew - hoped - that he was a good person at heart and didn't mean to. Would she offer him to drink from her again? Probably not. But that didn't mean that she still wasn't curious and she remained curious for a couple days after.

Then, she found herself back in the _Moonlight_ Club, after she announced to Jay that she would be there that night.

She had arrived a bit earlier than him and was on her second drink. Maybe she was a little drunk already, but Jay didn't need to know that.

"So what brings you here?", he asked. How she dreaded that question. Mara hoped that he wouldn't ask her that, that he would just assume that she was here to have a good time.

"Something happened again, right?", he asked when she took too long to answer.

"Yeah..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She didn't. But she knew that it would be better if she got everything off her chest. Jay was nice, he would understand, she told herself.

"I ...", she began, struggling to find the right words and turned her head to the side, her eyes on the dance floor. "I want you to teach me how I can protect myself against vampires."

"Did Aiden-"

"No!", she interrupted, "No, this has nothing to do with him."

She took a deep breath, before she continued. "There ... there is another vampire. He's been helping us with this entire situation, with Aiden. He helped him through the turning and still checks in once in a while."

Mara felt her throat tighten up. "Yesterday, I offered him to let him drink from me, but I chickened out and he came to visit today, just to talk, but I think he didn't drink after I left, and ... and he attacked me. I know he didn't mean to, but honestly? I was scared."

Mara stopped when she felt her eyes burn and tried to compose herself, but for naught. Hot tears were already rolling down her face.

"Shit, hey", Jay said quickly, "Let's go upstairs, alright?"

She just nodded and followed him back to the rooms on the upper floor. She sat down on a red couch and tried to dry down her face with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry for getting all emotional on you", she sniffled.

"No, it's okay", Jay assured her, handing her a few tissues he took out of a drawer from a nightstand. "You've been doing way better than what anyone would expect from you."

"It's ... it's just all so much, you know?", she said after blowing her nose inelegantly, "First Aiden, then this and the fucking sex demon-"

"Wait. Sex demon? You've met an incubus?", Jay asked, dark eyes wide.

"Yeah, but he's nice. He's been pretty supportive in all of this."

"Huh."

"What,_ huh? _"

"Well, I don't come into contact with them much. Hearing that one of them is 'nice' is pretty weird to me, considering what they do."

"Considering what _you_ do, it's surprising that you're nice as well", Mara said. Ah, well, she's back to normal.

"Good point", Jay grinned, a hint of fangs peeking through.

After a moment of silence, he sat down on the bed opposite to the couch and leaned forward. "I assume you've only been feeding Aiden until now?"

"Actually, Aiden has found a donor, or whatever you call them. I only fed him for the first month or so."

"Can I ask you why you offered that other vampire your blood?"

"I've been told that getting bitten felt good but every time Aiden bit me, I felt awful afterwards."

"Oh, he probably just doesn't have the experience yet", Jay chuckled.

"That's what the other vampire told me as well, so I asked him if he could show me. And because I am such a fucking coward, I got myself into this situation."

"You're not a coward, Mara", Jay huffed, "It's only natural to feel scared."

"Can't _you_ show me?", she blurted out. Something clenched in her gut when she saw how his eyes went a shade darker and his lips parted slightly.

"You don't know what you're asking", he said, blinking to get himself out of the offer.

"I do."

"You _don't_", Jay said firmly but not angrily, "Mara, I can understand what you're feeling, okay? But what you need now is someone who will care for you, not someone to_ bite_ you, and certainly not getting drunk every night."

Mara gulped, took a breath. He was right. She had been all over the place for the past days, she felt like a carousel spinning and needed to stop.

"Is there no one you could talk to?", Jay asked, taking her silence the wrong way.

"Aiden has been my support, he's my best friend until now", she said, her mouth suddenly dry, "But something's changed since he turned."

"Are there any other friends?"

"There's my coworker", she explained, "But he lives out of town. I met the incubus through him, so there's that."

"Does he know?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't risk asking him that, though."

"Understandable", Jay said, "Well, if there's nobody, I'd be glad to lend you a shoulder to cry on, alright?"

"No, I've been ranting too much already."

"I don't mind."

"I do."

"Then I guess we'll have to work this out."


	11. Dream Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mara gets what she wanted and now there is no turning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on, the pacing should be back to normal, I hope. Thanks for sticking around, everybody!

By working this out, Jay meant driving her home but Mara insisted on him dropping her off at Valentine's.

"Are you sure?", he asked when she gathered her stuff and wanted to leave the car.

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?", Jay smiled at her.

"Can't promise", Mara said with a wink and shut the door. She gave Jay a final wave as goodbye before he drove off.

"Valentine, it's me again", she said at the intercom.

"Did you forget something yesterday?", he asked.

"Ah, no. Can I still come in?"

"Of course", Valentine said and the door buzzed open.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think that you can't get enough of me", he grinned at her with a toothy smile. "What brings you here tonight?"

"I'm drunk", she blurted out, truthfully, and fell down on his couch in the living room. "Can I stay the night?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Is this about Julien still?", he asked, brows slightly furrowed.

"It's about Julien _again_", she sighed and buried her face in her hands. She cried already, she wouldn't cry again tonight.

"Do you ... want to talk? Did you come here to talk?"

"Yeah. Well, no, not really. Maybe? I don't know anymore."

"What happened?", he asked, sitting down next to her and softly stroking the back of her hand.

"I don't think he drunk anything after I stormed off yesterday", she explained, "He came to talk again, today and ... everything went south. I know he didn't mean to, didn't want to, but-"

"So that's why he asked me to check in on you", Valentine nodded.

"Probably..."

"Are you perhaps scared to sleep at home?", he then asked, squeezing her hand slightly, "Is that why you want to stay here?"

"No, I ... I've just ... been thinking", she stuttered, her face flush from embarrassment and alcohol, "about vampires and ... the incubus thing."

"Oh?", Valentine let out in surprise. "I don't know if I'm the right person to tell you about vampires, though."

"I ... I was wondering if there is a way to tell if somebody is one. I mean, as a human."

"Why?", Valentine asked, "You shouldn't worry. If you don't hang out in shady places, it's quite unlikely that you'll find uncivilized vampires."

"Just curious."

"Let's see...", Valentine crossed his arms and threw his head back to think, staring at the ceiling as if the answer was written there. "Hmm... Well, just watch out for the obvious? Paleness, coldness? On the other hand, if the vampire has drunk recently, it wouldn't apply ... ugh, I really don't know what to tell you, sorry."

"It's okay", Mara said, but was still a little disappointed.

"I think I'd be a much better help with the incubus thing", Valentine smirked, looking at her, instead of the ceiling.

"Uh ... so you can shapeshift, right? Like, into anything?"

"Is there a crush you like?", he laughed and Mara slapped him on his arm in response, "But it doesn't work that way."

"What?"

"Yeah", Valentine nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Some can. Older, more powerful demons can shapeshift at will, sometimes into their true form. You probably saw my claws last time, but it's not much I can do."

"But how...?"

"Dreams. We're primarily dream demons, Mara."

It took a moment for Mara's brain to process this, until he remembered the dream she had when she stayed over at Julien's place.

"Does this shock you that much?"

"Ah, no", Mara said, "Just remembered something. So it only works in dreams?"

"Pretty much. Why?"

"I..."

*Alright Mara, take a deep breath. It's okay.*

"I wanna know what it feels like to get bitten by a vampire."

Valentine looked at her with big eyes for a moment, until something in his mind seemed to click.

"Oh._ Oh _", he breathed. "Mara, I don't know if I can do that, even with shapeshifting."

"It's okay, it was a dumb thing to ask", she immediately dismissed.

"No it's not! I said I don't know if I can, I didn't say that I wouldn't try!"

"You would?!"

"I mean, yeah. It's mostly safe and it'd be a good experience for both of us, I think."

A weight suddenly was dropped from Mara's shoulders. "Ah, god. Thanks."

"Nothing to thank me for", Valentine laughed and stood up. "Would you like to relocate this to he bedroom?"

"I'd rather not fall off your couch, thank you very much", she said and took his hand to be lead to his room.

"Okay, uh ... so this is a little awkward for me as well", Valentine said, "Normally, I'd not do this like this, you know."

"I can imagine", Mara laughed.

"So, you should lie down, first of all. And try to relax, it'll be a little easier if you close your eyes. Think of something nice or nothing at all, uh, yeah. I think that should work."

Mara complied but she was nervous, so there was no way she could really relax.

"Are you a lucid dreamer?"

"Sometimes", she answered.

"Good. The only ways to stop this is to either wake up or if you have enough self-control inside the dream."

"O-okay..."

"Don't worry, I won't do anything you won't like."

"I trust you."

"Good, now sleep", Valentine whispered and Mara drifted away into wholesome slumber.

For a moment, she wasn't sure if it worked, when she woke up on Valentine's bed, but when she saw that he wasn't there, she knew that she was dreaming.

"Valentine?", she asked into the room, slowly sitting up.

"I'm here", his voice was everywhere, reverberating inside Mara's head.

When she looked around, he suddenly was there, inside the room. He was standing in front of the bed, putting one knee on it first, then the other, crawling towards her.

She felt her breath hitch when he touched her leg, the odd electric feeling returned that she knew from the dreams, from the first time she shook his hand.

"Are you asleep, too?", she asked, when he was so,_ so_, close to her face.

"No", he chuckled, "I'm actually inside your dream. This dream."

"What now?", Mara breathed. "Do you just bite me?"

"Is that what you want?", Valentine breathed almost inaudibly, his lips ever so slightly grazing Mara's cheek downwards.

"You're the experienced one here."

"This is your dream."

Mara shuddered when he kissed her neck. "Just ... do anything."

"Anything?", he hummed, "Are you sure?"

"Within reason."

"Of course", he said and leaned further into her, forcing Mara to lean back onto her elbows. "I won't do anything that you don't want."

She wasn't sure whether or not her racing heartbeat was real or just inside the dream. Valentine moved his other hand to her face, softly caressing it with the knuckles of said hand, stroking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I need you to concentrate on what you want from me", he explained, "I'm not sure if ... _how _ this is going to work."

"I'll try."

"I'll be ... I'll be getting a glimpse of your mind. Just so you know", he breathed.

"This is a dream not an end user agreement", Mara breathed back. "I assume you don't ask others when you do ... _this_. Just shut up."

"Right", Valentine chuckled and stroked his hands up Mara's arms to her shoulders. "This ... might hurt. Maybe."

He placed an open mouthed kiss on Mara's neck and as she felt teeth graze her skin, incoherent images flooded her mind. And just as she noticed a few blonde hairstrands tingle her cheek, she found herself gasping for air in Valentine's bedroom. He was beside her, also ringing for air and stroking a few sweat-soaked, black strands out of his face.

"You okay?", she asked him, it felt like all the alcohol was gone from her system immediately.

"Give me moment", he huffed, his eyes were eerily glowing in the dim light of the room.

Valentine closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath to collect himself. Mara saw his chest rise and fall multiple times, before he decided to open his eyes again. The glow was gone but his green eyes still had some kind of supernatural shimmer to it. "Okay."

"Sorry for...", for what?, she thought, "waking up? I guess?"

"It's okay, it's not your fault", Valentine said, "Can you ... do me a favour though?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Please just stay with me for a while. I've exhausted all my energy and need to rest for a moment."

Mara chuckled and lied back down. While doing so, she caught a glimpse of the time. It was almost morning.

"Time flies by", Valentine said, noticing her look at the clock on the nightstand. "At least in dreams."

He had closed his eyes again and was breathing evenly, but Mara was sure that he wasn't sleeping, just resting. She took her chance and examined him a little bit, as much as the incoming light from the window allowed her to.

Valentine wasn't short, per se, but she thought that he looked a little shorter than he was due to his lithe frame. He wasn't as skinny as Aiden, a true mystery with the amount of food he used to eat when he was still her_ normal _ roommate. She bit her lip in thought, when she looked at his raven hair falling onto his forehead and the long, dark lashes. She wasn't sure if he would necessarily be her type but she found that he was handsome regardless.

Did incubi get turned like vampires?, she thought to herself, shifting into a more comfortable position. If yes, did getting turned just enhance their appearance? Aiden at least seemed to look just like he did a couple months ago. He was a little paler and his blue eyes seemed a little sharper than before, more intense. But other than that, he seemed to look like ... well, _him_. So it certainly didn't apply to vampires. In turn, that would mean that Julien-

"What are you thinking?", Valentine suddenly asked, disrupting her thoughts like a reflection on water.

"I think I need to apologize to Julien", Mara sighed.

"Hm? Why?", the demon asked, opening his eyes.

"I think it's mainly his fault I'm in this situation", Mara grimaced, "But I certainly didn't help the situation as well."

"Well, I think he comes back from work around eight", Valentine said, stretching his limbs languidly. Mara didn't even bother to ask why he would know that. "If you're lucky, you might catch him on time."

Mara just hummed in agreement. "I'll have to be at work at ten, I'll probably stop by before that."

"Why not call in sick for the day? You shouldn't hurry the apology", Valentine said, rolling onto his stomach.

"This isn't school, I can't just ditch work."

"Hm, Phil owes me a favour", Valentine grinned, "It's gonna be alright."

"Valentine..."

"No, it's okay. I'm sure you two'll need the time to talk it out."

It took Valentine about half an hour to convince Mara to skip work that day. And she decided to drive home for the rest of the day. Mainly to take a shower, secondly because Valentine seemingly wanted her out of his flat ASAP and lastly, because Aiden probably wondered where she was.

She was right about the last thing. The moment she entered her flat, Aiden stormed towards her.

"Where were you?", he asked, eyes wide. "I leave for College and you're gone like that for an entire day. I come back and everything in here reeks of vampire. What happened?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened", she sighed, "I had a fight with Julien, after you left. I spent the night over at Valentine's."

"That demon?", Aiden raised his voice, "He didn't do anything, did he?"

"No, I'm_ fine_", Mara reassured. "Are _you_ okay? You seem awfully on edge."

In the meantime, they had moved into the living room and took a seat there. Aiden just sighed and shifted in his seat.

"My donor canceled our appointment. Said he wanted to commit to a single partner, instead of doing this business."

"And now what?", a slight chill ran down Mara's spine.

"Now I'm looking for someone else", he shrugged but the implication left a bad taste in Mara's mouth.

"And you haven't drunk in how long?"

Aiden paused, the silence heavy in the air. "For a week." The silence that followed was even heavier, making it hard to breathe for Mara.

"So ... do you ...?"

"No", Aiden said, quickly and harshly, "I won't ask this from you. I know you hate it."

"I also hate having a hungry vampire in my flat."

"Are you offering?"

"Only this once", Mara said, trying not to think that she still had to be somewhere tonight.

"Thank you", Aiden said, crooked smile on his face when he got up to sit down next to Mara on the couch.

She rolled up her sleeve and extended her arm to the side, so that Aiden could grab it.

To her surprise, the bite was painless, just a little uncomfortable. An itchy feeling in the crook of her elbow where Aiden had bitten down, nothing more. It was over quickly, she wondered if he was that quick with his donor as well, or if he just didn't want to do it with her properly. But there it was. The bite she had wanted from Julien for so long and thus the disappointment quickly settled in. It wasn't the orgasmic thing she had imagined, it didn't even feel all that good.

"You okay?", Aiden asked, licking his lips free from a few specks of blood, "It didn't hurt, did it?"

"Ah, no!", she said, only now realizing that she probably had a grim expression on her face the entire time, "It's fine, it didn't hurt!"

She said, but when she looked down to the still bleeding bite, to the blood welling up, the room spinned around her and the heard Aiden calling her name before the back of her head hit the arm rest.


End file.
